Apriadi Gunawan and Jon Afrizal, Medan/Jambi – Hundreds of private school teachers from various regions in North Sumatra held a rally at the provincial legislative building in Medan on Thursday, demanding welfare improvement.
The rally coincided with National Teacher's Day. The teachers, affiliated with the North Sumatra chapter of the Private Schools Teachers' Association (PGSI), called on the government to pay them more attention.
A rally participant said the government was more concerned about teachers with civil servant status.
"Based on facts, the government has not paid attention to private school teachers. We hope the government fosters equality of public as well as private teachers in the country," Salahuddin, Langkat regency PGSI secretary, told The Jakarta Post.
The rally was joined by teachers from Medan, Tebing Tinggi and Binjai cities as well as Langkat, Deli Serdang, Serdang Bedagai, Batubara and Asahan regencies.
Teachers demanded an additional quota for teachers' certification and promotion of private school teachers who had served for a long time as government employees.
In response to the rally, a member of the legislature's Commission E on people's welfare, Ahmad Hosen Hutagalung, said the demands were very humane, and that his commission would urge the provincial administration to address and realize their demands in the near future.
Separately in Jambi, the Bungo regency administration was reported to have failed to pay the salaries of 320 contractual teachers for four months.
Education Office secretary Hardius confirmed the reports but refused to disclose the amount of salaries in arrears. "I'm not sure of the exact amount," he said.
The 320 contractual teachers, who have not yet received their salaries, are composed of elementary, junior and senior high school teachers in Bungo. Hardius said their monthly salary of around Rp 700,000 (about US$70) would be paid immediately.
He said teachers had not received their salaries due to the budget deficit faced by the regency.
He added that the government would make efforts to fulfill teachers' rights. A teacher who requested anonymity said he did not know as of Thursday when he would receive his salary.
"We are aware of the regency administration's financial condition, but we are not certain of when we will get paid," he said.