Jakarta, March 15 -- Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf announced the government's plan to employ teachers with civil servant status to serve in free schools that will be established for the poor under the "Sekolah Rakyat" (People's Schools) program.

As stated in his office's release in Jakarta on Saturday, he explained that the teachers would be required to meet certain criteria and pass a series of tests before being placed in schools located in their regions of domicile.

He elaborated that the government would provide selected teachers with special additional training sessions to ensure their readiness to serve in a People's School.

Yusuf highlighted that Mohammad Nuh, the minister of education and culture between 2009 and 2014...