Save the 'killer teacher'

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 08/06/2007 12:43 PM | Opinion

The days are long and hard for AR, a teacher at a public senior high school in Bulungan, South Jakarta, who is being protested against by his students.

The students say AR is a ""killer teacher"" because he is too tough on them. In the course of their demonstrations they have demanded his dismissal.

What we are concerned about is that those students looked very proud of themselves while they were being recorded for TV or having their photos taken.

But whether they realized it or not, they had taken part in a joint effort to jeopardize the economic source of the teacher and his family.

We don't believe that the teacher had bad intentions for his students. If he acted sternly against them, his motive was to carry out his job to discipline his students so that they would become successful people in the future.

We are also amazed that the school's headmaster did not detect the problem earlier. Isn't there any student-teacher forum, which could be used to bridge differences between them? If so, why does such a forum not work?

If the effort of those students to expel ""the killer teacher"" is successful, it is a signal of backwardness in our national education system, because such a demonstration may inspire or even encourage students of other schools to do the same thing.

It is very possible that the students, who were supported by their parents, could easily seek the dismissal of other ""killer teachers"" they don't like.

If it happens, schools will only have obedient teachers who lack the courage to make their students abide by school regulations. We will find it difficult to find teachers who dare to carry out their authority.

BUDI PURNOMO
Coordinator
Jakarta Epistlers Network
Jakarta

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