Teachers and students end strike

JAKARTA (JP): The striking teachers of the Ksatrya school in Central Jakarta ceased the boycott they began Feb. 28 and started giving lessons yesterday.

Some 32 teachers of the economics and management high school went on strike for six days over the dismissal of their headmaster, M. Effendi, by the school's board.

Teachers lambasted the board's handling of their proposals to raise Lebaran allowances and improve the school's facilities. They denounced the board for ignoring their demands.

About 350 students joined the strike on Monday. The students said they were disappointed with the school's poor facilities.

"We pay Rp 30,000 a month for our school fees. The school should have provided better facilities, like new computers and tills," one student said Thursday.

Chairman of the board Marsudi Kindar said the dispute between the board and the teachers should not involve the students with whom he had agreed to dialog on Thursday to end the boycott.

The board has, however, stuck to its decision to discharge Effendi on the grounds that he violated the school's regulation prohibiting him from accepting a position of deputy headmaster in another school. (04)