Shorter week doesn't work

Shorter week doesn't work

YOGYAKARTA: Confusion reigned after many schools decided to
revert back to working six days a week, dropping entirely the
move to the shorter five-day working week.

Teachers and students had barely adjusted to the new system
when many school administrators decided to stop the trial of the
five-day working week because they deemed it unworkable.

The trial was launched last September in the hope that all
schools would be able to implement the shorter working week by
February next year, according to Antara.

"Now teachers and students have to adjust back to the old
format," said Sadali, principal of the state high school SMAN 2.

Fatimah, a teacher at SMAN 3, said the scheme was introduced
by the authorities thinking that schools were like other
government agencies, which are also experimenting with a shorter
working week.

"This is far more complex, because it's got to do with
students's ability to absorb studying materials," she said.

The chief problem has been rearranging teaching schedules,
given that many teachers teach in two separate schools to make
ends meet. Teachers are among the lowest paid professions in
Indonesia.(emb)