‘Talks under way with teachers syndicate to avert possible strike’

AMMAN — The Education Ministry on Tuesday said negotiations are under way with the Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) to avert a nationwide strike the syndicate is threatening to begin with the start of the next scholastic year.

Teachers and other school staff are slated to begin work on August 17, while students return to school on August 24.

Education Ministry Spokesperson Walid Jallad told The Jordan Times that there have been discussions with the syndicate over the past few days concerning a possible work stoppage, adding that the JTA council has been reacting positively.

“They understand the risk of such a move on the education process,” Jallad said, adding that there will be another extended meeting with the JTA council next Saturday to discuss the strike and other issues. 

In a statement posted on its website, the JTA said its council convened on Tuesday to discuss organising a nationwide strike in response to the government’s “reluctance” to meet educators’ demands.

The JTA council has asked that the civil service by-law and the teachers’ fund by-law be revisited. 

The teachers also want the ministry to disburse educational allowances for them and have called for drafting a new by-law governing private schools.

The council charged that the Education Ministry has been “turning a deaf ear” to the demands that teachers raised in the protest they staged on May 25. 

The statement said the council discussed a set of suggestions concerning the planned strike, but it did not mention whether the strike has been agreed upon.

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, Jallad said the ministry has amended more than 80 per cent of the civil service by-law as requested by the association and has referred the amendments to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau for review.

The JTA, one of the largest syndicates in Jordan with its 140,000 members, has organised several demonstrations during the past few months in protest against the by-law.