Govt raises teachers' allowance
Govt raises teachers' allowance
JAKARTA (JP): The government on Wednesday increased the
functional allowance of teachers an additional 50 percent, while
slashing in half the controversial structural allowance hike for
high-ranking officials.
With the new increase teachers now will receive a total
allowance increase of 150 percent, with the House of
Representatives already approving a 100 percent hike in March.
However, this still falls below the 300-percent functional
allowance increase that teachers demanded during demonstrations
last month.
"The teachers will get the additional 50 percent hike starting
on June 1," Minister of Finance Bambang Sudibyo, accompanied by
Cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak, announced at a media
conference following a Cabinet meeting.
Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin said last month
the average monthly salary of teachers was approximately Rp
650,000 (US$84).
A senior official at the National Development Planning Agency
recently said a 100 percent increase in teachers' allowances
would place an additional Rp 1.7 trillion burden on the
government.
Before the increase, the allowance for teachers ranged from Rp
45,000 to Rp 125,000 a month.
Bambang also announced on Wednesday that civil servants
working as medics would get an additional 25 percent increase in
their functional allowance, on top of the 100 percent already
approved.
It was also announced that librarians and civil servants in
the public service sector will also get an additional Rp 75,000
per month, while the lowest ranking civil servants will get an
additional Rp 50,000 in allowance each month.
The government earlier instituted an across-the-board 30
percent basic salary increase for all civil servants.
Demands for increased allowances and salaries for civil
servants intensified after the government voted itself a pay
raise.
The President's basic salary was increased from Rp 15 million
to Rp 26.7 million in April, with a gross take-home pay of about
Rp 49.77 million.
The Vice President's basic salary went from Rp 10 million to
Rp 22 million, with a take-home pay of about Rp 40 million.
The basic salary of Cabinet ministers shot up from Rp 2.5
million to Rp 12.6 million, while the basic salaries of
legislators doubled. With various allowances, legislators can
expect to net about Rp 9.7 million a month.
Cuts
While the news was favorable for teachers, librarians and
government medics, officials in the top echelons of government
realized on Wednesday that the net income increases they received
last month would be significantly slashed next payday.
Bambang said the controversial structural allowance increases
for high-ranking government officials would be cut by about 50
percent, but he would not say if this had any correlation to the
new allowance increases for teachers and other civil servants.
High-ranking government officials last month received
structural allowance increases of between 400 percent and 2,000
percent.
"The structural allowances for first-echelon and second-
echelon officials will now only be 50 percent of the previous
increase," Bambang said.
"Third, fourth and fifth-echelon officials will only get 60
percent of the original scheme," he added.
Under the original plan, top-echelon officials such as
director generals received a monthly allowance of between Rp 7
million and Rp 9 million, up from the Rp 400,000 to Rp 500,000
they previously received.
Second-level officials such as bureau chiefs received an
allowance of between Rp 3 million and Rp 5 million, up from Rp
200,000 to Rp 250,0000.
In a related development, Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi
here on Wednesday afternoon also agreed to demands from
protesting doctors and dentists assigned to community health
centers to raise their basic salaries by 100 percent.
These newly graduated doctors and dentists are required to
serve in local community centers as non-permanent employees for
three years in non-remote areas or two years in remote
areas.(prb/byg)