Amid strike, Education Ministry calls on engineers to consider students

AMMAN — The Education Ministry on Saturday called on engineers working for the ministry to consider students’ interests and the educational process as their top priorities. 

Engineers working for the ministry are on strike, to call for benefits similar to those their peers receive at other ministries and public departments, such as incentives and allowances, according to Petra.

The ministry, in a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, said that amid the strike, it was important to pay attention to students’ interests since they will soon sit for the first semester’s examination. 

 In this regard, the ministry said it wanted examinations to run smoothly. 

The ministry said it was willing to adopt constructive dialogue with employees, including engineers, and highlighted the importance of the civil service by-law that governs the relations between public employees and their job titles.

A total of 984 engineers work in the Education Ministry, mainly in vocational education.  

The year-long “strife” for equal financial payments has been met with “dismissal and delay”, Jordanian Engineers Association Vice President Fawzi Masad told reporters during a press conference at the Professional Associations Complex earlier in the month.

“We understand the financial pressure on the country, but the demands are legitimate and do not constitute a burden on the state budget,” Masad added during the conference, noting that the engineers financial claims do not exceed JD750,000 annually.