Govt to raise teachers' allowance

Govt to raise teachers' allowance

JAKARTA: The government has kept its word to improve the
welfare of the country's teachers by announcing on Friday a plan
to raise the state employees' monthly allowance by 50 percent in
May.

Minister of National Education Malik Fajar said after a
meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri that the increase
would be a special gift for teachers when they celebrate the
National Education Day on May 2.

The current education allowance, known as functional allowance
in the past, ranges from Rp 112,500 (US$11) to Rp 175,000. New
state teachers receive Rp 667,300 as a monthly salary, with the
highest paid ones taking home Rp 2.1 million.

Malik said the government was studying the possibility of
declaring the increase effective as of January this year, and
reimbursing the unpaid monthly allowances starting from May. --
JP