Teachers in Idleb organized a sit-in on Wednesday under the slogan “Builders of Generations,” protesting the non-payment of wages.
The teachers, conducting the sit-in outside of the Idleb Education Directorate, hoped to appeal to UNICEF, the United Nations or any other organization that could provide adequate support to cover their salaries.
The supervisor of the Idleb Education Complex, Abdullah al-Absi, explained to Enab Baladi that the teachers who participated in the sit-in today have not been paid for two consecutive years, the difficulty of carrying out their work without the compensation that would “secure a decent life for them.”
The Idleb Education Directorate is seeking to restore support, according to Absi, explaining that the reason for cutting off support is unknown, and noting that some schools in Idleb do receive grants and modest wages from local councils and organizations working on the ground in Idleb, while most schools suffer from a lack of support.
The monthly salary of a teacher in Idleb, paid by the Education Directorate, was around 120 dollars, on a fixed eight-month contract. Despite the rising prices that require constant income to secure the needs of the families of teachers in the region, teachers never stopped teaching, knowing that they have not been paid for two years.
The European Union stopped supporting the Education Directorate in the Idleb Governorate in September 2019. Back then, the suspension of support coincided with the start of the school year, and the displacement of thousands of students from their areas of residence to safer ones.
The Syria Response Coordinators team expected that stopping support for education in Idleb would affect 840 schools, indicating that it feared more than 350,000 students might drop out.
According to the Syria Response Coordinators team, more than 21 male and female teachers, and more than 278 male and female students lost their lives as a result of the military operations in the Idleb Governorate.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
