Qalqiliya teacher unpaid for 'political reasons'

Saturday 17/12/2011

QALQILIYA (Ma'an) -- A schoolteacher in the West Bank says she has been working for nearly four years without a salary after the PA ministry of finance suspended payments for alleged political reasons.

Hadiyya Daoud said she first discovered her salary had not been paid to her bank in 2008, four years after she qualified with the ministry of education and took her post at a school in Qalqiliya.

The ministry of education referred her to the finance ministry, "who told me my salary was suspended, but I was not fired," Daoud told Ma'an in a recent interview.

Daoud says she was informed the withdrawal of her salary was due to her alleged affiliation to Hamas, which she denies.

She told the government she is not affiliated to any political party and has abided by all PA rules, but her salary has not been reinstated, Daoud added.

The school principal said Hadiyya is doing the best job she can despite not receiving her salary for nearly four years.

Teachers' union member Bassam Naim said dozens of civil servants have been fired or moved from their job for political reasons, but Daoud's case is unique insofar as her salary was suspended without her being fired.

The union is following up with her case, he said.

Daoud appealed to President Mahmoud Abbas and Ramallah Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to help her receive the wages she is owed.

Her salary "is the only source of income for me, my mother and sisters," Daoud said.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=445617.