Private School Owners Association’s president comes under fire

AMMAN — The Private School Owners Association’s President, Monther Sorani, has come under wide criticism online for calling private school teachers’ claims of not receiving their March salaries “class antagonism”.

The Stand with Teachers Campaign has claimed that private schools teachers have not received their March salaries “despite most parents having fully paid the semester’s fees in advance”.

Hadeel Kiswani, the campaign’s coordinator, said in a TV interview with Al Mamlaka that “in these circumstances, the issue of directly transferring teachers’ salaries comes to the surface once more”.

In August of 2018, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz passed a new by-law that mandated the bank payment of all private school teachers, a long-sought-after demand by the sector.

However, Kiswani said on Saturday that some schools “still do not abide by the law” and that “it is time that these schools are punished with the maximum penalty rather than the minimum, as the latter has proven not effective”.

Kiswani also commended the efforts of the Ministry of Labour, saying it has “been very vigilant since the start of the corona pandemic to make sure private schools are abiding by the law”.

However, some teachers have said online that their schools have “refused to pay teachers’ salaries even though they have received the students’ payments for the semester in advance,” as put by Firdous Ajlouni on Facebook.

Ajlouni added: “Moreover, some schools transfer the money and then force teachers to return half of it back in cash. Poor teachers have nothing to do but accept the humiliation.”

Kiswani said the campaign and Jordanian Teachers Association demand that “the salaries of all private sector teachers be paid immediately, fully and urgently”.

The association also confirmed that it would resort to the judiciary to claim the rights of teachers if necessary.

Monther Sorani, in the same TV interview, called Kiswani and the Association’s claims “a result of class antagonism and hatred” for “failing to mention all the good deeds done by private schools”.

He added: “We are respected institutions that work within the frame of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour. If there is an individual case of violations, that should be investigated by the competent authorities. Not you [Kiswani] nor anyone else has the right to claim anything against us.”

Sorani’s words and tone were the result of wide criticism and backlash from citizens who called his attitude “uncivil and uneducated,” as put by Reem Naser on Facebook.

“Kiswani deserves everyone’s respect for her respectable and calm attitude. Sorani, on the other hand, is not representative of an educational association at all. Rude and disrespectful!” added Shefa Aldaher on Facebook.

Parents have also criticised Sorani, with parent-of-two Sahar Dahiyat saying that “we, parents, have paid our children’s tuition in full. Why, then, are private schools not paying teachers their salaries?”

Sorani’s response to Kiswani’s claims, particularly him telling her “have you no other point than this? You do not even work in the private sector” when she presented cases of teachers not receiving their March salaries irked not only the general public, but feminists in particular.

“Why does he keep interrupting her? Is it because she is a woman who is making a valid point and he has no valid argument, but to personally attack her?” commented Ruaa Banat under a video recording of the interview posted on Facebook.

“When he wrongly thought she was in the public sector, he said she had no right to talk about the private sector. When he found out she was indeed in the private sector, he said she had no right to attack her own sector. When, exactly, does she have the right to speak against injustice?” said Elham Othman on Facebook.

Sorani was not available for comment despite several attempts by The Jordan Times.