ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—More than 1.7 million students headed to school across the Kurdistan Region on Saturday on the first day of school year, with the minister of education encouraging teachers to carry on their work until the region has overcome its economic crisis, promising that the government will do its best to improve their life standards and address their grievances.
“The economic crisis has affected us all, especially the teachers so badly that no one with conscience can say teachers are living in good times,” Education Minister Pishtiwan Sadiq said in a speech. “On the contrary, we all know that teachers have no job other than teaching and therefore improving their life standards is the responsibility of us all.”
The minister symbolically chose the Qaraj primary school in the town of Makhmour to mark the opening of the school year. Qaraj was briefly captured by Islamic State (ISIS) militants in the summer of 2014 but later liberated by Kurdish forces.
“I hope the new school year is the year of victory for Kurdistan and the advance of science and education in Kurdistan,” said Sadiq. “I hope we can raise an educated generation for the progress of Kurdistan in all aspects.”
Around 6,800 schools opened their doors for the 2016/17 school year, but reports said that in several parts of Sulaimani province and Garmiyan region teachers boycotted the schools as protest to the government’s failure to pay them on time and cutting their salaries by almost half.
“Dear teachers, we understand your pain and hardship, but we are against boycotting schools and teaching,” Sadiq said. “Boycotting will not solve any problems. So lets all stay together and shoulder this responsibility and I am sure all the glory goes to our brave teachers.”
Last week saw thousands of teachers take to the streets in several cities and towns in Sulaimani province who demanded their paychecks on time and full pay.
The education minister said that the government had heard their grievances and it was doing its best to address them based on the availability of funding.
“A few days ago at the council of ministers we decided to allocate 6billion Dinars towards travel expenses for teachers, which is small but a token of appreciation for the teachers and their dedication.” Sadiq said.
He added: “We must not lose hope and should look to the future with optimism.”
The education minister said that despite the scarcity of funding due to the ongoing financial crisis, “We have done our best to print and provide textbooks, desks and other necessities and will hopefully be able to finish unfinished school projects.”
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