Few people interested in becoming teachers

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)