Sudan Teachers Strike for 'New Structure' Salaries

Students at Sakalai School for Boys in Nyala, South Darfur (File photo)

Nyala / Sennar — South Darfur teachers at all three school levels have called-out a strike across the state to demand payment according to the new salary structure, as well as disbursements of adjustments for 2020-2021. Teaches in Sennar boycotted the trial exam for the third grade of secondary school.

Striking teachers staged a protest sit-in on Sunday in front of the South Darfur Ministry of Education in Nyala, in protest against the disbursement of the salaries for March according to the old salary structure in the state*.

Omar Daw El Bayt, a member of the North Darfur Teachers Committee, told Radio Dabanga that a memorandum was delivered in this regard to the Director General of the Ministry, in which they demanded the payment of the March salary according to the new salary structure, with allowance for differences in January and February, and the disbursement of deficits for the years 2020 2021.

In central Sudan, secondary schools in Sennar state boycotted the trial exam for the third grade of secondary school on Sunday, while 90 per cent of basic schools closed due to the payment of salaries according to the old salary structure.

Abbas Imam, the head of the facilitation committee in Sennar, told Radio Dabanga that the Sennar Ministry of Finance has begun paying salaries according to the old structure, which prompted the staff of all secondary schools in the state, except for two, to boycott the trial exam for the third grade.

* In January 2020, the Sudan Ministry of Education announced that as part of a plan to restructure Sudan's education system, the government decided to double salaries for teachers to make the profession more attractive, and guarantee high-score students places at university.