Students rally for support teachers' cause

JAKARTA (JP): Fears of nationwide teacher strikes to mark National Education Day on Tuesday were unfounded, but in some areas of the country students took to the streets on their teachers behalf.

President Abdurrahman Wahid praised teachers for their meritorious service in educating students, but declined to touch on teachers' complaints about their meager wages and poor living conditions.

At the State Palace, the President led a special ceremony to mark National Education Day. The event was attended by several Cabinet ministers and officials from the Ministry of National Education.

Abdurrahman pointed the finger of blame at the New Order regime, which he said was responsible for the current poor state of education. "The government must focus more on efforts to improve the quality of human resources, which have been neglected for more than 30 years."

National Education Day falls on the birthday of Ki Hajar Dewantara, who founded the Taman Siswa school in Yogyakarta in 1922.

Speaking to journalists in his office, Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin again called on teachers to understand that the government was unable to fulfill their demands for higher pay.

"We also have to think about civil servants from other sectors, such as medics and military personnel, who also have low incomes," Yahya said.

While the day was being celebrated at the palace, hundreds of high school and university students marched from the State Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara to the Ministry of National Education on Jl. Sudirman.

Waving posters and banners, the students demanded a pay raise for teachers and an increase in the amount of state budget allotted for national education. They also urged the revocation of the long-standing title for teachers as "national heroes without medals", saying this was a poor substitute for decent salaries.

In Bandung, hundreds of students from the city and the neighboring towns of Garut, Tasikmalaya, Subang and Ciamis staged a protest in front of the provincial legislature building on Jl. Diponegoro.

They urged the government to simplify the current education curriculum. "Up to now, Abdurrahman's Cabinet has not given national education its due, as the management, infrastructure and teachers' welfare are totally neglected," one of the demonstrators said.

The commemoration of National Education Day was also marked by a student rally in the Central Java capital of Semarang.

Around 100 students from the state-owned Teachers Training Institute marched to the provincial legislative council demanding a larger portion of the national budget go toward education.

Some 200 students from a number of universities in the East Java capital of Surabaya marked the day by marching to the Grahadi building on Jl. Soerjo, waving posters and banners protesting the government's education policies.

Violence tarnished rallies in Jayapura, Irian Jaya, when hundreds of Cendrawasih University students destroyed a police car and the official car of the province's caretaker governor, Musiran.

Eyewitnesses said employees and staff members from the university were holding a flag-raising ceremony in observance of National Education Day when the governor and his entourage entered Trikora Square, adjacent to the campus, for a similar ceremony.

A student identified as Bonafius said the governor and traffic police officers did not respect Indonesia's national flag. "We asked them to stop for a short time (until the ceremony was completed), but they refused. That shows their ignorance."

In the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh, about 50 students from the Islamic Student Action Front staged a protest at the council building on Jl. Tengku Nyak Arief, demanding a stop to violence in the province and the burning of schools there.

Waving banners with various slogans, including "Find the School Arsonists", "Stop Violence" and "We Want Our Teachers Back", the students voiced their concern over the more than 130 schools that had been burned down by armed groups over the last several months.

"Dozens of teachers have fled the province and several were killed during the fighting here," Muhammad Didi, the group's coordinator, said.

In Yogyakarta, students and teachers joined forces to demand lower education fees and an increase in teacher salaries. They marked the day by marching to the legislative council building.

In Makassar, South Sulawesi, teachers did not keep their promise to go on strike.

"Let's be patient. The government has promised to fulfill our demand," said Umar, the principal of a local senior high school.

The demonstration in Makassar was staged by hundreds of students from Hasanuddin University. Like other demonstrators, they demanded the government focus more attention on national education.

In Pekanbaru, Riau, hundreds of elementary school teachers gathered to demand higher salaries and allowances. They threatened to go on strike for a week starting next Monday if their demands for a transportation allowance and overtime pay were not met. (08/25/27/nur/har/eba/swa/edt/sur/dja/prb)