Advocates of private school teachers garner ‘significant support’ ahead of meeting with minister

AMMAN — The “Stand with the Teachers” campaign members drumming up support from stakeholders as they appeal to Minister of Education Omar Razzaz to take action to oblige private schools to pay their teachers’ salaries only through banks to protect their rights, a teacher advocate has said. 

The women-led campaign has been working to collect signatures of public figures and supporters of their demand ahead of their meeting with Razzaz on Tuesday.

They have already conducted a survey that has found that only a few private schools are compliant with instructions regarding the method of payment, which are meant to make sure that employers are paying the minimum wage as stipulated in a unified employment contract previously endorsed by authorities,  said campaign member Hiba Abu Ghneim in remarks to The Jordan Times. 

However, the unified contract for teacher workers in the private sector, which went into effect this academic year of 2017-2018,  gives teachers the option to express in writing his/her wish to receive the pay in cash, which is a loophole in the legal document, the advocates said, reporting cases where teachers are intimidated to file their written consent by their employers. But in the majority of cases, the school administrations just ignore the rules and some allegedly commit other violations such as delays in dispersing salaries.  

Around 1300 teachers working in private schools participated in the online survey, of whom 66.7 per cent said that they do not receive their payment through banks.

Only 10.4 per cent answered with “yes” to the question if they have signed the paper asking to receive their salaries outside banks. 

Najah Al Natour another campaigner said bank statements will play an essential role in cases of labour disputes, through which the teacher can rest assured that her/his rights are safeguarded. 

A member of the Jordan Pay Equity Committee and the coordinator of the legal file of the issue, Hala Ahed, said that they would ask the minister to order changes to instructions as such a move is under the jurisdiction of the Education Ministry as the regulator of the sector. 

Abu Ghneim, who provides legal counsel for teachers through the initiative’s Facebook page, said that most of the complaints they receive are related to delays in payments, which is illegal. 

The campaign has succeeded in garnering the support of around 100 MPs, NGOs, officials and businessmen in less than a week, Natour noted. 

”This campaign is quite important because it has empowered the teachers to be organised and demand their rights themselves. It also helps decision makers to adopt proper policies based on first-hand evidence; the teachers” Reem Aslan, gender consultant to The International Labour Organisation in Jordan who signed the petition said.

For his part, House Labour Committee member Mutaz Abu Rumman, who also signed the petition, said that he supports the campaign strongly and will discuss the amendments to the Labour Law to intensify the fines on violators who breach the law and do not abide by the minimum wage, of JD220. 

“The fines will be up to JD500 for each employee paid under the minimum wage. Therefore, bank statements are important to prove any breaches of the law.” Abu Rumman added.

According to the President of the Private Schools Owners’ Association Munther Sorani, there are around 50,000 teachers working in the sector, most of whom are women. 

Sorani said that not all private schools are able to pay their teachers through banks since they have (overdue) commitments to other parties such as the Social Security Corporation. Therefore, he explained, any money that is deposited in the bank account of the school would be seized immediately and funnelled to pay the dues to other debtors, which, he said, would create a further problem in paying salaries. 

“The sector is already suffering,” he alleged, but advocates and their supporters are optimistic that regardless of any excuses, teachers are entitled to the minimum wage to be paid on time.