Schools allowed to close over fear of unrest

JAKARTA (JP): Schools across the capital will be allowed to close if they think it necessary in anticipation of unrest if and when the House of Representatives (DPR) issues its expected second rebuke of President Abdurrahman Wahid next Monday.

Head of the Jakarta office of the Ministry of National Education Alwi Nurdin said that school principals, especially those of the 22 schools located near Senayan where the House is situated, were free to decide whether to open or close in the interests of their students' safety.

"Everything depends on the situation. The principals are expected to decide what is best for their students," Alwi told Antara. He added that his office would not issue any circulars or notices either to compulsorily close or keep schools open on the potentially tense day.

In response to the House's plan to hand down a second memorandum of censure against Abdurrahman, thousands of his die- hard supporters have pledged to flood Jakarta in order to defend the embattled President.

Abdurrahman's supporters, many of whom claim to be ready to die for the President, will hold a mass prayer at the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex on the eve of the plenary session.

Rumors of unrest ahead of the House's first censure of the President on Feb. 1 resulted in many schools closing for the day.

Alwi was speaking after receiving a group of part-time teachers who were demanding that the city administration appoint them as civil servants.

The teachers said they had been working for the state for at least three years but still only earned Rp 90,000 (US$7.6) in monthly take-home pay. They demanded that Governor Sutiyoso provide them with Rp 250,000 in additional allowances.

Sudus Eli, an Indonesian language teacher in a school in South Jakarta and Usman, a geography teacher in a school in Condet, East Jakarta, claimed they had worked for 16 years as part-time teachers.

In response to the teachers' protest, Alwi said that currently there were around 6,000 part-time teachers in Jakarta. However, the city was only able to recruit 110 full-time teachers for this year.

There are approximately 27,000 teachers employed as civil servants in the city. They teach in 116 state senior high schools (SMU) and 385 private SMUs. The city also had 282 state junior high schools (SMP) and 600 private SMPs, together with 58 state vocational schools (SMK) and 598 private SMKs.

"It is difficult for us to meet the teachers' demands due to our current situation," Alwi said.