Teachers lament pay cut

Teachers lament pay cut

PURWAKARTA, West Java: Teachers in Kemantren, Kiarapedes
district, are lamenting the frequent cuts that officials from the
Ministry of Education and Culture's local office take out of
their salaries, Antara reported yesterday.

Some teachers said that in addition to the 11 "routine"
deductions from their wages, they often find their salaries cut
even further by local officials.

"Every month our salaries are cut by at least Rp 10,000
(US$4.25)," one of the teachers said.

Among the deductions are those for the Civil Servants Corps
(Korpri) and Dharma Wanita, the organization which groups the
wives of Korpri's members. Only last month, their salaries were
cut by an additional Rp 2,500 to finance a gathering of the
Indonesian Teachers Association.

"This is despite the fact that sometimes we have to pay for
our own transportation when we have to go and teach in remote
villages," said one teacher.

Sometimes the situation forces teachers to demand that parents
pay a rice contribution to the Parent Teachers Association.

Elementary school teachers in the area make an average of Rp
250,000 a month. (swe)