Teachers syndicate criticises gov’t decision to annul regulations for fee collection

AMMAN — The teachers syndicate and the Education Ministry reached a new line of confrontation on Wednesday, this time over the association’s membership fees.

Two weeks after the endorsement of regulations to deduct annual fees from members of the Jordan Teachers Association (JTA), the government went back on its decision, which was published in the Official Gazette.

Revisiting its stance followed two letters from Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat and Finance Minister Umayya Toukan.

In a statement, copy of which was sent to The Jordan Times, Thneibat noted that the instructions regarding the membership fee and the mechanism to deduct it from teachers are “illegal” and were passed in a “vague way”.

He noted that the JTA cannot address the Finance Ministry to deduct annual fees from pensions of retired teachers, who are no longer members of the JTA.  

Under the annulled regulations, the civil retirement department and the Social Security Corporation deduct an amount of money from the pensions and salaries of retired and subscribed teachers for the association. 

The JTA, which has some 140,000 members, expressed its “astonishment” over the decision, describing it as an attempt to “twist the arm” of the syndicate. 

“We are surprised that the minister went back on the decision without coming back to us for consultations,” JTA Spokesperson Ayman Okour told The Jordan Times on Wednesday. 

He charged that aborting the regulations only days after they were published in the Official Gazette reflects a state of “chaos” that is only meant to “harm” the JTA. 

Okour said the instructions entailed deducting a “very nominal” amount from teachers — JD1 per month.