Hope for improvement

Hope for improvement

Like everyone else, teachers must make a living in order for
them and their families to be able to survive. Hence, the waves
of protest which they staged in Jakarta and elsewhere in the
country in the past few days must be seen as a legitimate part of
their inalienable democratic rights. After all, what they are
demanding is, in essence, little more than what under ordinary
economic conditions could be regarded as a reasonable increase in
their monthly salaries and allowances.

Improved management standards and a bigger allotment for
education in the state budget was also among the reasonable
demands aired in some of the teachers' protests of the past days.
But most clearly, the emphasis was on improving the lot of those
who, as is generally admitted, hold the moral and intellectual
quality of Indonesia's future generations in their hands: its
teachers.

There can be no doubt that under current government
regulations, such increases are urgently needed. One state junior
high school teacher in Jakarta, with 30 years of service, admits
to earning no more than Rp 800,000 -- or the equivalent of about
US$100 -- a month. Meager as that may sound, he is still better
off than the elementary teacher in Jakarta who, with 17 years of
service behind him, earns a mere Rp 500,000, or about the
equivalent of $62.50 a month.

Similar stories of gloom can be told from all across this huge
archipelago. Little wonder that few teachers, if any, in
Indonesia can afford to devote themselves fully to teaching in
the one school to which they are assigned. Most are compelled to
supplement their earnings by offering private tuition to pupils
or students who need it and can afford to pay for such extra
services. Little wonder, too, that under such conditions
education standards are bound to suffer, with the inescapable
consequence that human-resource standards in Indonesia often lag
behind those of many other countries in the world, including some
countries in the Developing World.

Given all that has been said, it is welcome news that the
Cabinet has, in principle, agreed to meet the teachers' demands,
albeit only halfway. Under currently prevailing crisis
conditions, Cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak explained,
there was no way the government could afford to increase
teachers' basic salaries by 300 percent and allowances by 500
percent, as demanded. However, increases of between 100 percent
and 200 percent in allowances for teachers and increments in
their basic salaries to amounts that are to be decided later can
be expected, even though this would tax the current state budget
to the limit.

The important thing in all this is that both sides -- the
teachers' associations on the one side and the government on the
other -- appear to be ready at this point to work out together
some kind of formula to avoid the kind of stand-off that is
certain to damage the nation's interests, present and future. The
time to find some kind of fair and workable solution to ease the
lot of this country's grossly underpaid teachers has certainly
come.

In the meantime, Indonesians must not forget that this
country's present education problems are not rooted only in the
low wages of teachers. The teaching profession itself has, for
years, been the subject of much criticism. Professional and
ethical standards, besides academic, in the teaching profession
are among the issues that are often questioned by the public.
Certainly it is fair for the tax-paying public to expect that a
raise in salaries and other amenities for teachers be accompanied
by improvements in these aspects.

The undisciplined and unruly behavior displayed by protesting
teachers at the House of Representatives and elsewhere earlier
this week, for example, are acts of conduct totally unworthy of
bearers of a profession so selfless and noble as that of
teachers.