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Thousands of contract teachers in Bekasi yet to be paid
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Teachers give instructions to students of Madrasah Tsanawiyah Hidayatul Mubtadi'in Islamic junior high school in Malang, East Java, before they start a computer-based national exam on April 23. (JP/Aman Rochman)
T
housands of contract teachers in Bekasi, West Java, have not received their salaries for the past two months on the back of the stalled deliberation of the revision to the city budget.
Around 3,800 teachers have not been paid for their services in August and September, the coordinator of the Bekasi branch of the Indonesia Contract Worker Defenders Front Firmansyah said.
The teachers’ salary was recently raised to Rp 3.8 million (US$250) per month after they were reclassified as contract teachers. They previously received Rp 2.7 million per month as associate teachers.
Although classed as contract or associate teachers, they are usually employed full-time.
Firman urged the Bekasi's administration to disburse the payment to the teachers, who were struggling to make ends meet.
“They are thinking hard on how to cover their daily expenses,” he said as reported by kompas.com on Saturday.
Bekasi Education Agency head Ali Fauzi said the funds to pay the contract teachers were allocated in the 2018 city budget. However, since their salary was raised, the funds available were inadequate to pay the teachers.
The administration was waiting for the 2018 revised budget to be endorsed by the Bekasi Legislative Council, so that it could disburse the adjusted salary.
“We only need to wait for the revised budget to be approved by the city council,” he said. (gis)
