TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Education and Culture Deputy Minister in charge of education, Musliar Kasim, says the number of permanent and contract teachers is sufficient and the government has decided to halt the recruitment of contract teachers. “We’re not allowing schools to recruit more contract teachers,” he said yesterday. According to Musliar, the regulation was implemented in 2005, but it is often violated by schools that claim to they need more teachers. “That’s just their excuse because they wanted to recruit contract teachers. That’s why we’re reinforcing it to avoid the same problem,” he said. However, the ministry is still giving dispensation to schools that do genuinely need more teachers. “Under the conditions, the contract teacher candidate must write a statement letter that they will not demand to be promoted to a civil servant,” said Musliar. The Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI) chairman Sulistiyo said he lamented the policy that put contract teachers into a corner. “The government should thank contract teachers but now they don’t care about them,” he said. AFRILIA SURYANIS