Rp 4.4b in aid for Maluku education
JAKARTA: The World Bank has provided a total of Rp 4.4 billion for educational development in Maluku since 2001.
Project officer Jansen Leunupun said the aid had been used to build 19 state elementary schools and Islamic junior high schools across the neighboring regencies of Southeast Maluku (Malra) and Western Malra.
During the first phase, the project focused on the construction of school buildings in remote or isolated areas. The following phase was to help repair existing school buildings and equip them with up-to-date educational facilities.
Jansen said that, so far, 11 buildings were nearing completion.
The World Bank, according to Jansen, has also recruited some 40 part-time teachers to serve at state and Islamic junior high schools in the regencies. The recruits will work based on contracts of between three and four years and receive a monthly salary of Rp 300,000.
Maluku has been hit by three years of communal clashes, which has left thousands of people dead and many buildings damaged. -- Antara
;JP;ANTARA; Medan woman urges tougher sentence for Singaporean employer JP/8/SCENE
Tougher sentence for employer sought
JAKARTA: A ten-month jail term handed down to Singaporean teacher Heng Kwee Huang for abusing her Indonesian maid was too lenient and should be appealed to a higher court, an activist said.
"The sentence is too light and should not be accepted without any effort to file an appeal to that country's court," Maya Manurung SH, an activist for women's affairs from Medan, was quoted as saying by Antara on Saturday.
On Thursday a Singapore court sentenced Huang to ten months in jail and fined her 3,000 Singaporean dollars (US$ 1,760) for abusing Yunmarni, 24, by punching and then pouring hot water on the latter's face.
According to Maya, Indonesia needed to prepare some lawyers for this case on the grounds that Yunmarni's employer had treated her in an inhuman way.
"Yunmarni should actually file an appeal to that country's higher court, as the sentence was too light," she said.
;JP;ANTARA; RI prepares int'l research center JP/8/SCENE
RI prepares int'l research center
JAKARTA: The office of the state ministry for research and technology was currently preparing a plan for an international joint research project dealing with maritime, biotechnology and information technology as well as manufacturing, a cabinet minister said.
The proposed international research center has won the backing of Germany and some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), State Minister for Research and Technology Hatta Rajasa said at the opening of the Best of British Week exhibit featuring British education, technology and business.
"We hope in the near future, Indonesian and British researchers can carry out joint projects in the field of science and technology," the minister said.
He said the cost of research activities would be shared by participating countries.
Hatta also said that his office would establish science and technology exhibition centers throughout the country. His office is currently putting up science and technology exhibition centers in Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta and Malang, East Java.1