Jakarta – Hundreds of substitute teachers in Jakarta staged a rally at the City Council on Monday to complain about the amount of time it was taking the administration to make them civil servants.

"The applications are stuck with the Teacher Quality Assessment Board and the education agency," said Edi Sudiyo, the chairman of the South Jakarta chapter of the Communication Forum of Indonesian Substitute Teachers.

He said only 473 forum members had been verified and promoted out of 3,806 members who had applied to become public servants since last August.

"The city administration has set its own standards and has not abided with a 2007 government regulation on the promotion of honorarium teachers to become civil servants. We demand certainty in this matter," Edy said, as quoted by Antara.

Council member Igo Ilham, who chairs the council's Commission E overseeing education issues, said the commission would discuss the matter with Governor Fauzi Bowo, related agencies and the State Ministry for Administrative Reform.

"We will discuss the legal aspects of the issue as well as the administration's financial capacity to employ more civil servants," he said.