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)