Surya reelected PGRI chairman

SEMARANG: Mohamad Surya was reelected chief of the Indonesian Teachers' Union (PGRI) for the 2003-2008 period here on Saturday.

The professor at the Education University of Indonesia (UPI) in Bandung, West Java, collected the majority of the 638 votes.

Commenting on his reelection, he promised to increase the number of teachers, improve the quality of teachers and their welfare, and encourage the even distribution of teachers across the country.

Surya, who began his career as an elementary school teacher in Kuningan, West Java, also vowed to abolish the dichotomy between teachers of state schools and those of private schools because he asserted all PGRI members were deserving of the same treatment.

He said he would also encourage the enactment of a law on teachers by 2004 at the latest. The bill on teachers is being discussed at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. --Antara