School year starts amid stalemate in gov’t-syndicate talks

AMMAN — Around 1.8 million students are supposed to start the 2014/15 scholastic year Sunday as the Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) and the Ministry of Education reached a dead end in their dispute.

The teachers decided to go on with their strike despite the start of the school year. On Saturday, the JTA asked parents not to send their children to schools on Sunday, the first day of school, as the syndicate decided to go on with a planned strike.

In a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Minister of Education Mohammad Thneibat countered the campaign of the Islamist-dominated syndicate with an appeal to parents to send their children to school. He assured the public that in case the strike goes on, their children will be compensated for the missed classes during the winter holiday.

In a statement made available to The Jordan Times, the association accused the government of stalling in responding to teachers’ demands.

The decision comes after a week of intensive meetings between government officials, the Lower House Education Committee and JTA representatives aiming to find a solution to end the work stoppage.

The teachers began their strike last Sunday to pressure the government to meet their demands, which include amending civil service by-law articles related to sick leaves, promotions and leaves without pay.

Other demands include investigating alleged irregularities in the Education Ministry pension fund and referring the case to the judiciary, introducing a “better medical insurance system”, increasing teachers’ salaries, awarding them more financial benefits and ensuring that they are given better contracts at private schools.

The government says these demands would amount to around JD230 million a year, and it would not be able to meet in view of the current economic situation.

In his statement to Petra, the minister said that the majority of the demands have already been met and the government will discuss amendments to the civil service by-law next week.