ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A representative of the Kurdistan Region’s striking teachers claimed on Sunday that around 3,000 educators in Sulaimani have been penalized for not attending schools for the past five months. An official from the teacher’s union said that they have not received any reports in that regard.
The majority of teachers in Sulaimani, Halabja, Garmiyan, and Raparin who walked off the job in September 2023 over unpaid wages have returned to work in recent weeks after the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) education ministry agreed to meet some of their demands. Many teachers, however, have continued to protest, mistrustful of the government’s promises.
Abdulwahid Mohammed, deputy head of the Kurdistan teacher’s union, said that, according to unofficial data, around 80 percent of schools in the striking provinces and districts have opened.
“In Sulaimani city, nearly 3,000 teachers have been penalized and counted as absent,” Karokh Abdullah, a representative of non-contract teachers, told Rudaw’s Soran Hussein on Sunday, adding that some of the teachers are expected to receive pay cuts, while others are transferred away from their original schools.
The union deputy head said that no teachers have reported being penalized.
“We have heard rumors of teachers being penalized, but no teacher has come to us to report such an issue,” said Mohammed, adding that the union stands to assist any teachers facing such problems.
Teachers who are still on strike held large protests in Sulaimani and Halabja on Sunday, reiterating their demands for the payment of salaries on time, handing out promotions where due, and offering contracts to non-contract teachers.
The teacher’s representative claimed that schools have mostly only resumed inside the cities, while the majority of the educators in the districts continue the strike.
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