Syndicate proposes amendments to Teachers Association Law

AMMAN — With the new amendments to the Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) Law currently being discussed, the teachers’ syndicate has presented a number of suggested amendments.

The Legislation and Opinion Bureau is receiving stakeholders’ recommendations regarding the law before endorsing it in its final version. 

The JTA suggested amending Article 16 to extend the life of the syndicate council from two years to three. 

In a statement received by The Jordan Times, the association also proposed amending Article 2, which defines who can be classed as a teacher.

 The old article defines teachers as those who provide teaching services at any educational institution, without having to obtain any certificate from the JTA.  

The syndicate proposed amending the article to instead define a teacher  as anyone who undertakes educating or providing any specialised teaching service at any private or public educational institution, while possessing a certificate to practise from the syndicate.

Among the recommendations, the JTA suggested abolishing a provision in Article 5 that bans the association from interfering in the curriculum, education policies, professional standards and certification, and the ranking of teachers.

Earlier this month, the Cabinet approved a draft law amending the Jordan Teachers Association Law and the syndicate’s administrative and financial by-laws.  

The Cabinet also discussed increasing the end-of-service benefits for teachers from the Ministry of Education-affiliated Social Security Fund from 13 times the salary to 15, and decided to refer the issue to the Economic Development Committee for recommendations.

The ministers also discussed penalties for teachers serving in schools where none of their students passed the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi), and decided to refer the issue to the Ministerial Service Committee for recommendations.

The decisions to meet the demands of the union came after Prime Minister Hani Mulki’s meeting with the president and members of the JTA last Monday.

The association’s demands included listing the JTA’s amended law on the House’s agenda in its extraordinary session, which is expected after Ramadan, endorsing the association’s financial and administrative by-laws, and increasing the end-of-service gratuity.

Union leaders had threatened an open-ended strike at the beginning of the next scholastic year if their demands were ignored.