Ministry agrees to deduct syndicate fees from teachers’ salaries

AMMAN – The Ministry of Education will start distributing forms for government teachers who are members of the Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) to authorise the ministry to deduct the syndicate’s annual fees from their salaries, a JTA official said on Monday. 

JTA Spokesperson Ayman Okour said the decision was made following a meeting on Sunday of a joint committee that comprises members of both the JTA and the ministry. 

A total of 90,000 teachers and employees work in the public educational system, according to Okour, who added that the JTA has a total of 130,000 member teachers representing both the private and public sectors. 

The unionist described the association's membership fees as "vital" because it is the JTA's only source of income.

The fee to be deducted is JD1 each month, which the official has previously described as “nominal”. 

The demand was made more than a year ago, but remained unanswered by the ministry before it finally agreed to make the move this week, which means that the payments will be ensured instead of waiting for members to report to the syndicate and pay the money, the unionist explained.

However, The syndicate has its concerns. 

"We are concerned that the ministry might not distribute the form to all teachers or will not oblige them to send it back," Okour said. 

He noted that JTA membership is obligatory.