Few people interested in becoming teachers

JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Try Sutrisno is dismayed by the declining interest in choosing teaching in schools as a profession.

Try called on all Indonesian educational institutions to help convince the public that teaching is a rewarding profession which every teacher should be proud of.

Try's message was conveyed to the mass media by officials of the Foundation of Taman Siswa Schools, who met with him to discuss their plan to hold a congress in Yogyakarta from July 15 to 20.

Foundation chief Boerhanoeddin Lubis quoted Try as saying that fewer people are interested in the teaching profession probably because they are deterred by the well-known meager salaries.

"The Vice President asked the congress to discuss ways to reassure the public that teaching remains a noble and rewarding profession," Lubis told journalists.

Try asked the foundation's officials not to be dazzled by foreign values streaming into Indonesia from the global free flow of information, and to hold on firmly to its principles.

Congress

The schools' 17th congress will be opened by President Soeharto and closed by Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare Azwar Anas.

The gathering will bring together about 600 educators from the foundation's 136 branches throughout Indonesia.

Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung and business tycoon Probosutedjo are scheduled to address the conference.

Taman Siswa schools, one of Indonesia's oldest, have about 82,000 students all over Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union yesterday criticized the deductions from teachers' salaries in East Java and other places for the ruling Golkar's election campaigns.

"Although people consider teaching a noble profession, teachers' rights are often abused," the union said in a statement signed by its chairman, Muchtar Pakpahan and deputy secretary- general Sulistri.

Muchtar called on teachers to join the union so that they can acquire stronger bargaining power. (pan)