Jonglei governor orders striking schools to reopen within 48 hours
By John Actually
March 15, 2011 (BOR) – Amid the continuing primary school teacher strikes over housing allowances, that has lasted for four weeks, governor Kuol has ordered teacher representatives of the three counties, Twic East, Bor and Duk to reopen schools within 48 hours after a meeting, that failed to convince the teachers to resume their normal duties.
Delegated by the governor to address the press, Mayen Ohka said the teachers will be considered to having resigned if they do not open schools within the given timeframe.
“Today, the governor took the initiative to call the teachers’ representatives of the three counties of Bor, Twice east and Duk. After rejecting our request to resume their duties, we ordered them to reopen schools within 48 hours. We expect the report to reach the governor on Friday, 18 March”, said Mayen.
“If they don’t open schools within these hours, we will consider them to have resigned”, he continued.
In reference to the resolutions passed by the council of ministers on 2 February, all the state civil servants were to be paid housing allowances including the teachers, primary teachers across Jonglei. They went on strike on 21 February, over housing allowances and closed the schools.
The council of ministers formed a committee chaired by minister of local government, Diing Akol on 22 February said that it would persuade the teachers to resume their duties with promises of paying them later, but no agreement was reached.
On 7 March, finance minister told reporters that the council of ministers has reversed their decision by suspending housing allowances that were approved due to great financial deficit in the state. Although he promised to pay teachers’ allowances, he failed to mention how soon the payment was expected.
Jonglei Legislative Assembly (JLA) summoned education minister, Stephen Par Kuol on 14 March, to address the parliament on the on-going teacher strike Kuol said he would not satisfy the house in his capacity as the minister since the issue lay in the hands of council of ministers.
Kuol told the assembly that he had presented the memo to the council of ministers, which recognised and accepted the accommodation allowances payable to teachers in the form of arrears, but condemned the manner in which the teachers presented their grievances.
Addressing the parliament, Kuol admitted that teachers are the most underpaid professional workers, adding that they are not only eligible for accommodation allowances but also a pay raise. A grade 12 teacher receives a salary of approximately SDG300 (US$100) per month.
“Please Speaker and honourable members, allow me to tell you that our teachers are the most underpaid for the work they do. Their noble profession as technicians of human resource development has subjected them to abject poverty where the budget allocated to education is always less than a fraction of the total budget of GoSS”, he said.
Kuol said his ministry always received 80 percent of their budget from GoSS in form of a“conditional grant” and the state is unable to top it up due to a lack of internal revenues, forcing the council of ministers in their last sitting to suspend housing allowances to all civil employees until a permanent source of revenue is secured to pay them.
Kuol also said efforts are being exerted to get line ministries in GoSS these badly needed funds sooner than later.
In separate interviews on 14 March, the speaker of legislative assembly, Peter Chol Wall, told Sudan Tribune that the house will summon more ministers to answer the house on pending issues including the budget that has created chaos in the state.
The speaker blamed the minister of finance, Aquila Maluth Mam for not warning the state council of ministers of the deficit in the budget when they sat to approve the release of housing allowances, the source of current problems.
Meanwhile the representatives of the teachers told Sudan Tribune they will not open schools till they are paid.
Malueth John Aluong, one of the representatives said the discussion was intimating and that they would not reopen the schools, even if they are forced to resign.
“We will not open schools as he said. What we want is to be assured that we will be paid on this date. We are not militants. If it would mean termination, so be it”. Aluong said.
Another representative, identified as Abraham Kiir said the government has been dragging its feet in solving the problems saying that the firing of over 800 teachers will be an additional burden to the state, adding that the state will find it difficult to replace them.
(ST)