Settle teachers' demand, urges Unicef

Settle teachers' demand, urges Unicef

JAKARTA (JP): An international organization urged all parties
on Thursday to seek a solution to the teachers' demand for better
pay in order to bring about an end to strikes which have
sacrificed children's basic right to education.

Even without strikes, "there are more than six million
children in Indonesia aged seven to 15 who do not attend school,"
the senior program officer of the United Nations Children's Fund
(Unicef), Yoshiteru Uramoto, in Jakarta said.

Uramoto said the neglect of children's education was a
violation of the United Nations convention on children's rights,
which Indonesia ratified in 1990.

"We regret the side effects of the teachers' rallies which
have interrupted children's education at school," Uramoto told a
media conference. However, he acknowledged the achievements of
the program of the obligatory nine years of elementary education.

Teachers from all over the country took to the streets this
week, forcing several schools to close. Triggered by the
government's decision to drastically increase the allowances of
high-ranking officials, teachers have demanded an increase of up
to 500 percent of their current allowance.

On Tuesday, about 20,000 teachers packed the toll road in
front of the House of Representatives. At the House itself they
engaged in unruly behavior.

As of Thursday, strikes were still being reported in areas
such as Makassar, South Sulawesi and Palangkaraya in Central
Kalimantan. In East Kalimantan, teachers raised the threat of
more strikes.

On average, "The education quality is still very low as we can
see from the students' evaluation scores (NEM) and other academic
achievement tests," Uramoto added.

Regarding teachers' pay, he said, "Teachers' salaries are not
enough to cover their daily needs, let alone to enable them to
improve their teaching skills."

He added that the low reward for teachers stemmed from the
country's small budget for education.

The education fund is only 1.3 percent of the country's gross
national product, compared to the international standard of 6
percent, chairman of the Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI)
Muhammad Surya said.

Also addressing the media conference, he said PGRI had
instructed teachers to halt their rallies temporarily and that
the union would not support calls to boycott the national year-
end examinations (EBTANAS).

He said PGRI would not be held responsible for continued
strikes, which teachers threatened to carry out if their demand
was not met.

In Purwokerto, Jendral Soedirman University Rector Robiyanto
Misman urged teachers to be patient as their students' education
was at stake.

Meanwhile in Surakarta, Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung
dismissed speculations that certain parties were behind the
massive, unprecedented teachers' protests throughout the country.

"I believe that the teachers have a genuine intention; nobody
took advantage of them," Akbar said, adding that the only likely
party involved was PGRI. He was reopening the Golkar office which
was razed by fire during a riot last October.

PGRI chief Muhammad also said allegations about political
motives behind the rally were baseless.

"Since PGRI was established in 1945, the organization has
never been a political vehicle of any party," Muhammad said.

"If anybody asks how millions of teachers could go to the
streets at the same time, it was because they shared the same
feeling," Mohammad added. (08/44/45/edt)