“We want to become officially recognised like other teachers, because we have the same duties,” Hazhin Aziz, a non-contract teacher for four years, told Rudaw’s Horvan Rafat.
“We have teachers who have been non-contract for 13 years, which is a lifetime to be in a school, and then a contract [teacher] will show up and they will get kicked out, without any rights,” she added.
The cash-strapped Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) imposed a freeze on new, permanent hires as it struggled to pay civil servant salaries in full and on time for more than seven years due to the war against the Islamic State (ISIS), disputes with Baghdad, and a drop in oil prices.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy said in a statement on Sunday that they had “solved” the issue in a meeting with the Ministry of Education, but did not go into detail.
On Monday, Education Minister Alan Hama Saeed told Rudaw that the ministry has decided to allocate salaries for the 2021–2022 school year, but did not give further details.
According to Aziz, “The amount of money is unspecified, and we want to receive salaries during the holidays as well. We have the same duties as contract teachers, so we should be given the same salaries as them.”
Across the Kurdistan Region, non-contract teachers have protested and gone on strike multiple times this year to demand equal benefits and employment contracts.
“What non-contract teachers are asking for is their most basic right … they’ve talked about 300,000 and 400,000 [Iraqi dinars, about $270] to provide for the non-contract teachers. It’s important to care about their salaries,” Abdulkhaliq Mawati, a contract teacher protesting in solidarity said, noting that they hadn’t received their April benefits.
“I have been a [non-contract] teacher for five years, it’s enough. The rights I am asking for from the government should have been given to me five years ago, but they were put on hold due to the ISIS war, the economic crises, the pandemic… Now oil is $84. It’s enough! How long should we wait?” Ako Hassan told Rudaw.
Earlier in May, scores of health employees and teachers rallied in front of the Sulaimani governor’s building, calling for permanent employment.
