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Jakarta teachers protest at palace for higher pay

Source
Straits Times - April 13, 2000

Jakarta – Hundreds of teachers, demanding a massive pay hike, demonstrated in front of the presidential palace in central Jakarta yesterday in a third day of protests.

Singing songs, the protesters – clad in teachers' batik uniforms – demanded to see Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri who was due to chair a Cabinet meeting.

A delegation from the teachers conveyed their demands to Ms Megawati inside the Merdeka Palace while others protested outside. "Teachers: a general's rank but a corporal's pay," said one of the posters they carried, while another said "Smart pupils don't want to become teachers because teachers have dismal salaries."

Ms Megawati was handed a petition, carrying the teachers' demand for a 100 per cent salary rise and increases in their allowances and compensation scheme. The petition, signed by the association's Jakarta chapter deputy chairman Srifin Rusmana, also threatened strikes and mass disobedience if the demands were ignored. President Abdurrahman Wahid is overseas on a world tour.

The demonstration followed similar action in several Indonesian cities over the past week and came about two weeks after other civil servants had been given significant pay increases. Many schools in Jakarta have been closed since Monday because of the strike. Several teachers have said they would boycott final student examinations to pressure the government to boost their salaries.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the House of Representatives have expressed sympathy for poorly-paid teachers but stopped short of endorsing the strike. "Teachers deserve a significant hike in their salaries because our children's futures are in their hands," said House Speaker Akbar Tandjung on Tuesday. However, he made no promises as to whether the House would push for an increase within this fiscal year.

The average salary of teachers in Indonesian state schools is 250,000 rupiah (S$60) a month, less than the official minimum wage in Jakarta. The Association of Indonesian Teachers has hailed the protests as the culmination of decades of frustration.

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