Students rally for support teachers' cause

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)