Mentally ill teachers 'working' in schools

JAKARTA (JP): Teachers suffering from serious mental illnesses are still giving classes in Jakarta's elementary schools, a city councilor said yesterday.

The head of City Council's Commission E for social welfare, Soeparmo, said there are between 30 and 40 active teachers who have serious mental problems.

He said that at least four of them are headmasters.

"These people should not be involved in the teaching process."

Soeparmo, who was head of the city's education and teaching agency before becoming a councilor on July 18, 1997, said the municipality should pension off teachers who have serious mental illnesses.

To illustrate his point, Soeparmo gave the example of a Central Jakarta teacher who called his students onto a playing field and then undressed in front of them before urinating in a figure eight pattern on the ground.

Another teacher, who was denied a promotion, threatened promotion officials with a knife, then thrust it into a desk and laughed, Soeparmo said.

The Jakarta municipality employs 28,000 elementary school teachers and 2,552 headmasters. (ind)