Teachers renew demand for professional association

By Laila Azzeh

AMMAN –– “Our demand to establish an association cannot be illegal by any means,” hundreds of teachers chanted outside the Parliament on Tuesday.

Renewing their calls for a professional association, the teachers said it is a “legitimate” right that should be granted to them as soon as possible, stressing that “contrary to what authorities think, it will not have a political agenda”.

“The teachers association is not a passing fad… yes, we agree that our number is large, but this should be considered a source of strength for the country,” said Committee for the Revival of the Teachers Professional Association President Mustafa Rawashdeh.

“If our demand is not met, we will unilaterally establish an association,” he told The Jordan Times during yesterday’s sit-in, but added that the “door for dialogue is still open”.

Several deputies came out of the Lower House to negotiate with the teachers.

“They [deputies] wanted the teachers’ representatives to go inside Parliament and hold talks, but today we are here to protest and not to talk,” Rawashdeh said.

Shatha Halaseh, a former director of a public school in Karak, said she was suddenly referred to retirement, despite her efforts to remain in her job to reach a certain level for social security purposes.

“I served as a teacher and a school director for 27 years, but after I joined the campaign to establish an association, I found myself jobless,” she told The Jordan Times, claiming that the decision to send her to retirement was “merely political” and not administrative.

Another teacher, Sami Hajaj, said educators do not only want money and university education for their children, but to be treated like other workers, whose right to have their own associations is taken for granted.

“If students are not afraid of us then why is the government?” he noted.

Following a nationwide strike by teachers last year, the government took several measures to improve teachers’ financial and social status, such as a series of raises over a period of one-and-a-half years.

In addition, under a Royal makruma announced by Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania, children of teachers admitted to public universities under the 5 per cent quota will benefit from scholarships that will cover all their tuition fees.

But the government has maintained that the establishment of a professional association for teachers is “out of the question”, citing a 1994 resolution by the Higher Council for the Interpretation of the Constitution.

In 1994, following a plan drafted by the Senate to issue a law forming a teachers’ association, the council ruled that the move was unconstitutional.

During yesterday’s sit-in, a number of activists from various political parties said teachers’ rights should be protected by the umbrella of an association.

Islam Samha, a member of the National Social Leftist Movement, noted that the Lower House’s failure to meet teachers’ demands means it has failed to secure the rights of citizens.

Islamic Action Front Secretary General Hamzah Mansour also took part in the protest, lending his support to the teachers and encouraging them to continue calling for their own association.

After the sit-in, Lower House Speaker Faisal Fayez decided to meet a group of teachers today to discuss their status and demands, the Jordan News Agency Petra, reported.

The Committee for the Revival of the Teachers Professional Association issued a statement last month condemning remarks made by Fayez that the establishment of a teachers association is against the Constitution.

5 January 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=33180.