Gov’t presents new proposal to end 3-week strike, deemed subpar by teachers

AMMAN — The Ministry of Education on Wednesday proposed a new draft plan aiming to end teachers’ nationwide strike, which concludes its third week Thursday.

The proposal, delivered during a meeting with the Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) at their headquarters on Wednesday, outlines a “new partnership” between the JTA and the Ministry of Education on a number of levels, as well as a plan to improve the living conditions of teachers and rewarding excelling educators, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The ministry’s delegation called on the syndicate during the talks to suspend its strike, consider the proposal and engage in an open dialogue with the government to reach a final solution to the crisis.

For their part, the JTA said in press remarks that although the new proposal tackles the improvement of the pay raise system currently in effect, it “does not meet teachers’ aspirations and demands”.

This is the second proposal the government submits to teachers to defuse a three-week crisis sparked from public school teachers’ open strike to demand a 50-per cent raise, that they say was promised to them five years ago but was never delivered.

The JTA rejected the government’s first proposal, describing it as “vague”, and criticised the proposal’s failure to address or acknowledge teachers’ demands.