Thousands of teachers opt out of East Timor

Thousands of teachers opt out of East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): About 2,300 teachers in East Timor have demanded
the government move quickly to transfer them and their 15,000
family members from the troubled province.

Representative of the teachers presented their demands on
Tuesday to Director General of Elementary and Secondary
Education, Indra Djati Sidi, who was visiting the East Timor
capital of Dili to assess their situation.

The government, however, said the transfer would not take
place until at least the end of the month.

Intimidation and assault against teachers, mostly hailing from
Java, has been intensifying since President B.J. Habibie declared
his intention to grant East Timor independence if its people
rejected the government's autonomy offer.

The announcement has caused tension to escalate between
proindependence and prointegration groups. Migrants -- teachers
or people employed in other fields -- were especially vulnerable
to acts of violence.

Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono said on
Tuesday relocations were scheduled to begin at the end of March.

"This is a tentative plan. It would be impossible to move them
simultaneously. We have to wait for further political
development," Juwono told The Jakarta Post.

The first step was to establish an inventory list for each
teacher and whether it was necessary for him or her to be
transferred immediately. The procedure would take about a month,
he said.

The government has already allocated Rp 50 billion (US$5.5
million) to finance the resettlement. About 3,000 teachers are
posted in East Timor, but 700 of them have pledged to remain.

"Priority will be given to teachers who have been in the
province more than 10 years and those who have experienced
various forms of abuse. We will arrange for them to leave first,"
Juwono said.

Recalling a brutal incident in which two teachers were killed
last year, he said: "We are deeply concerned... this (situation)
disrupts the learning process."

He said the ministry was planning to issue "vouchers" for the
teachers to eliminate administrative work.

The vouchers will explain the transfer cost, estimates of
damaged and lost goods, the government subsidy amount and the
amount the teachers will be required to pay, he said.

Antara reported from the East Timor capital of Dili that
Indra met with representatives of teachers on Tuesday, following
a demonstration of 1,000 teachers on Monday.

The teachers wept as they recounted the abuses they had
suffered in the territory. One elementary school teacher, Puji
Astuti, said two students hit her face when she requested they
produce identity cards for an examination.

"They became angry and hit me. I lost two teeth," Puji said of
the 1997 incident.

She said she lodged a complaint with police, who failed to
even investigate the incident.

Another teacher, Raden Jaka Prihindarto, posted in Baucau
district, recalled how his students once drew up a list of
teachers who would be targeted for violent actions.

"They threatened us if we flunked them. One of my colleagues
was beaten and thrown into a well."

Emanuel Bajama, a teacher posted in Liquica Regency for 16
years, recounted how he was chased by knife-wielding students and
beaten by parents. Once, students beat him until he collapsed and
kicked him on the head repeatedly in front of the school master.

"If the students received a mark below seven, they would be
angry and threaten us." (edt)