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)