Teachers in towns in the two southern Kurdish provinces sang songs and held up posters. “First of all, I apologize to my lovely students that I couldn’t attend classes on the first day of school and spend the day with them,” said Osman, a striking teacher in Kalar, on Rudaw’s live coverage. “Secondly, I want to send a message to the education minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) that we as teachers can no longer stand this situation.”
Another teacher protesting in Sulaimani said they informed the government last week that teachers will strike until their demands are met. “Our statement that has been sent to the KRG last week includes several demands, which are paying our salaries every 30 days, refusing online education, and releasing teachers and activists who were detained in previous protests in different areas in the Kurdistan Region,” Ari said.
The cash-strapped KRG has struggled to pay public sector salaries for several years, largely because low oil prices damaged the economy. It has at times slashed salaries or delayed payments. Erbil struck a deal with Baghdad this summer that should see the federal government send money to cover civil servant pay cheques, but Baghdad is also facing budget problems. Teachers led a large strike action in 2018.
The new school year in the Kurdistan Region began on Sunday. Students have been out of class for seven months since the last school year was shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic. Classes are resuming in stages, and most students will attend online.
On Sunday, just grade 12 students began school in their physical classrooms, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Education Alan Hama Saeed.
More than 20,000 grade 12 students across 94 schools in Erbil returned to class today, according to Dler Abdulla Hassan, head of Erbil central education, with restrictions. Class sizes are limited to 15 to 20 students and social distancing should be observed. Students and staff must wear facemasks and use disinfectants before entering the building.
Saeed said the KRG allocated 540,000,000 dinars to his ministry to buy protective and medical equipment "across all the study centers in the Kurdistan Region, Kirkuk, Khanaqin and other Kurdistani areas outside of the Kurdistan Region administration.”
If the threat of the coronavirus lessens, then grades 1 and 2 will begin in early October. All other grades will be conducted via online learning.
Schools and universities were closed on February 26 as part of the KRG’s measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. The education ministry approved online education in mid-April but eventually cancelled examinations as pupils and students missed out on a significant chunk of the curriculum. Grade 12 students went ahead with their final examinations under strict coronavirus containment measures.
Primary school pupils in grades one to three automatically progressed to the next grade. Students in grades four to 11 had their second semester examinations cancelled and grades from the first semester were counted for the entire year.
