Islands teachers to get more benefits

Islands teachers to get more benefits

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration is to upgrade the status of temporary
teachers who pass a special examination to contract teachers as
part of an attempt to improve their well-being, especially those
working in the newly-established Kepulauan Seribu regency.

"All temporary teachers will be given the chance to improve
their status by taking a special test that is scheduled for
sometime in September," Governor Sutiyoso told reporters on
Friday.

"Should the teachers pass the examination, they will get a
one-year contract from the city administration, which can be
extended."

Currently, temporary teachers only get between Rp 100,000 and
Rp 200,000 (US$11 to $22) per month.

A contract would entitle them to receive a salary of up to Rp
750,000. Even those who fail the test, however, will receive a
salary raise based on the provincial minimum wage of Rp 596,000
per month.

Meanwhile, city spokesman Muhayat said that priority would be
given to teachers in the Kepuluan Seribu regency, as promised by
Sutiyoso to the islands' teachers on Thursday.

Sutiyoso visited Untung Jawa Island to inaugurate several
infrastructure projects worth Rp 10.5 billion (US$1.1 million),
including port and sanitation facilities.

Previously a district of the North Jakarta mayoralty, the
regency is considered the least developed of the city's five
second level administrative regions due to its geographical
isolation.

"The only way to improve the quality of the Seribu islanders
is by improving the level of education there.

"Therefore, the city administration is providing more
incentives for teachers so as to give them extra motivation,"
Muhayat said.

Currently, there are about 30 permanent teachers and 95
temporary teachers paid by the city working in the Seribu
Islands.

Meanwhile, the permanent teachers will get an additional six
days added on to their 12 days annual leave, which can be taken
three times a year so that they can visit the mainland, as a
further incentive.

The teachers and each of their family members will also
receive allowances when taking annual leave.

The new policy is expected to start in September pending the
approval of the City Council.

"But even if we cannot start the incentive program this year,
the teachers will be enjoying the benefits by next January," said
Muhayat.

In a separate development, in Bekasi dozens of temporary
junior high school teachers demanded on Friday that the Bekasi
municipal administration recruit them as permanent teachers.

"Our job is to increase the public's level of education but
the administration must pay attention to our welfare," one of the
teachers, Dadi Suryadi, was quoted as saying by Antara.

The teachers demanded that the administration prioritize them
during the next recruitment drive planned for sometime in
September.