Jakarta – Teachers in the Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI) held a rally in the capital city once again. Last Monday, PGRI deployed hundreds of members from East Java. Yesterday (12/7) the organization had teachers from Central Java.

According to the General Secretary of PGRI Management for Central Java Province, Sulistyo, the number of teachers involved in the action was 2,150. They left Brebes town square, Central Java, Wednesday (12/7), using 43 rented buses. It is planned that the PGRI Central Java's action will be followed by the PGRI West Java group.

As in the previous action, this time the rally targets were the State Palace, the House of Representatives, National Education Department and the Finance Department.

At the Parliament building, the protesters were greeted by House Deputy Chairman Zaenal Ma'arif. During the meeting, Secretary General of PGRI Central Java, Sulistyo, demanded that the House urge the government to agree to an education budget of 20 percent. "Based on the teachers' study, now the education quality is very low. Therefore, the education budget must soon be recognized," said Sulistyo.

Zaenal Ma'arif supported the teachers' demand about the education budget. In addition, it is in line with the Constitution's mandate. "It is better for the Education Minister to step down if he can't appreciate the education budget to be 20 percent," he said.

Director General of Educators and Pedagogy Officers Quality Improvement at the National Education Department, Fasli Jalal, said that he can understand the teachers' demand. "We'll always accept teachers with open arms. We'll try our utmost so that all allowances that were promised by the government are paid immediately," he said.

[Reh Atemalem Susanti, Kurniasih Budi, Sutarto.]