Volunteer teachers to be rewarded

Volunteer teachers to be rewarded

JAYAPURA, Papua: The Jayapura chapter of the National
Education Office said on Monday that it would reward hundreds of
volunteer teachers in the regency's remote areas who have
dedicated their lives for over ten years without appropriate pay.

Office head Theodorus Arim said that the lack of information
had kept his office in the dark about the existence of volunteer
teachers in schools that were experiencing a shortage of
teachers.

B. Adadikam, a supervisor for kindergartens and elementary
schools in Sarmi Mamberamo district, said that most of the
volunteer teachers taught at schools in the southern coastal
region, and received compensation in the form of harvested
produce from students' parents.

"It is not worth their effort. I hope the government will
appreciate them," Adadikam said.

Theodorus has said that the need for school teachers in the
regency had been adequately met, but that teachers often
neglected and abandoned their assigned posts. He promised to
punish these errant teachers by withholding their salaries or
transferring them to remote areas. --Antara