Govt to review plan to withdraw state teachers

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto agreed yesterday to review a government plan to withdraw thousands of teachers on the state payroll from private schools following strong protests from religious leaders.

Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher said the order came immediately after the president heard complaints directly from the ulemas on the expected impact of the plan.

"The president has instructed me to contact the Minister of Administrative Reforms T.B. Silalahi to re-examine the plan," Tarmizi told reporters.

Sixty-eight ulemas from East Java met with President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace yesterday to discuss various issues, including the recently announced education plan.

The withdrawal of state teachers from private schools will particularly hurt religious schools, including the pesantren (Moslem boarding schools), which are run by some of the ulemas present yesterday.

While many private schools in Indonesia are running profitable ventures, thousands of them are actually run on shoestring budgets and could not survive without the support of the government.

Tarmizi explained that Soeharto made the decision to have the plan reviewed after it was pointed out to him by the ulemas that the government's nine-year compulsory school program could be hampered if the government withdrew its support.

Tarmizi was quoted by Antara news agency as saying that the government had hoped to save Rp 133 billion ($57 million) a year by withdrawing the teachers currently working at private schools.

During the meeting with the ulemas, President Soeharto noted the important role played by private institutions in the government's education program.

He acknowledged that the first phase of the compulsory schooling program introduced in 1984 could not have succeeded without the participation of the private institutions.

Compulsory

The government introduced six-year compulsory education for children aged six and over in 1984. It has achieved more than 90 percent enrollment 10 years later. Last year, the government extended the program to nine years.

Apart from bringing up the issue of teachers, several ulemas yesterday also raised the question of a bridge connecting East Java's provincial capital of Surabaya and the island of Madura.

The ulemas said that without the president's personal support, the bridge would not be built.

The construction of a six-kilometer bridge between Surabaya and Madura was originally scheduled to start this year. It has been postponed indefinitely, partly because of some local opposition.

State Minister of Agrarian Affairs/Chief of the National Land Agency, Soni Harsono, announced earlier this year that the delay was caused by the complicated land acquisition process.

Tipped to be the longest in southeast Asia, the bridge is aimed at facilitating the expansion and relocation of industries from Surabaya to Madura.

Some of Madura's religious leaders are known to oppose the Rp 400 billion (US$180 million) project initiated by Minister of Research and technology B.J. Habibie. According to the original plan, about 80 percent of the necessary funds would be provided by the Japanese Overseas Economic Cooperation and Fund.

The Madura ulemas fear that besides bringing industrialization to the largely arid island, the bridge would expose the islanders to cultures that could threaten their own.

"The only way to develop Madura is through industry. Surabaya is already crammed," Soeharto said, adding that a study is currently underway on the feasibility of the bridge.

The president added that the people of Madura should help with the development of the bridge. "If it is economical, then there will be a return on what is being invested," he said.

The President pointed out that Habibie is currently constructing a bridge linking the islands of Galang and Batam. (mds)