Teachers begin strike in defiance of government

BOGOR (JP): Some 7,000 teachers began their three-day strike on Thursday to demand, among other things, a 300 percent increase in their salaries, defying the government's call on them not to do so.

The strike, in which teachers from both state and private schools participated, paralyzed school activities in the town, forcing students from kindergarten to senior high school to stay home.

The teachers threatened to continue their strike if there were no signs that their demands would be fulfilled by the government by Saturday.

The head of the Bogor chapter of the Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI) Aim Halim Hermana solicited support from local universities for their strike.

"If they fail to follow suit, they don't support our struggle," Aim said.

He admitted that not all schools were closed down on Thursday since some teachers told their students about the strike long after it was too late.

But for Friday and Saturday, he called on all the schools to stop activities, and advised the teachers to give their students homework.

Aim acknowledged that he discussed the strike with local officials of the National Education Ministry which earlier asked the teachers to cancel the strike.

But the teachers decided that the strike should go ahead and that homework would be given to the students in place of class time.

Meanwhile, in Yogyakarta, education observer Suyanto said that President Abdurrahman Wahid had every right to reject the teachers' demands, but urged the president to consider their situation.

"The problem is closely related to rewarding the teachers whose welfare has been neglected for years. It's time to give them more of our concern," Suyanto who is also the rector of the State University of Yogyakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

That's why, he said, it was understandable if teachers are staging protests demanding salary increases.

"I feel it's okay for them to stage rallies, but I do hope they would not continue it by refusing to teach if the government rejected their demands. The consequence would be very hard to bear in the long term," he said.

The strike has drawn concern from President Abdurrahman Wahid, who is in Havana for the Group of 77 summit.

Speaking before Indonesians living in Cuba, Abdurrahman called on the teachers to maintain composure, saying the government is considering measures to meet their salary demands.

"Teachers should understand that despite their right to strike, it doesn't mean that they are free to just do it," the President said.

Abdurrahman said the last Cabinet meeting on Wednesday should have dealt with the matter.

"It should have been decided that the government would increase teachers salaries," he said.

After the Cabinet meeting presided over by Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin promised the government would double the salaries of the nation's teachers. (21/swa/jun/byg)