In 2011, the Jordanian teacher’s Syndicate was founded[1] after about a year of teacher's strikes Exploited the state of transformation in the middle east which called, the Arabian spring. teachers show a desire to establish a Syndicate (aka a Worker's Union in USA) to defend their rights.
With the failure of the Syndicate to do its part which was created for, the governments also used to continue its failed policy that reflects on teachers as part of society. This has led teachers to choose new leadership that are more strict in dealing with the government regarding the issues of its affiliates.
In 2019, the strike of the teachers started to be the longest strike in the history of Jordan, more than a million of students was waiting for the end of this crisis.the Syndicate assisted to have their demands, which were related to economic and labor matters, the government was invoking the difficult economic situation it was going through, the society helped the teachers by refusing to send the children to schools until the Syndicate says so.
After a month the government finally accepted to give them the 14th demands.
Ariful Islam
After COVID-19 in 2020, the government did the Defense law, which was exploited later, to stop the work of the teachers union, and put the entire union members in prison and stop the agreement. The media was banned from publishing on this issue and dealt with a security measure[2] with journalists and teachers who, of course, refused these measures.and stared there protest which remains for several weeks also, the security forces had arrested many teachers during the protest until the authority released the union members.
Many international organizations around the world denounced what the government and its security did and still doing to the teachers in Jordan, such as Human Rights Watch HRW.[3].
Ezgi Sağlam
Until this moment, the teachers are trying to recover their union and obtain their rights through peaceful ways.
I think it is imperative to work on a comprehensive reform of the teacher's union, in terms of the election law in it, so that unconventional young leaders are produced, and improving conditions for education workers, to do their role well.
Hence, it is incumbent upon everyone, including the Syndicate Council and the Jordanian government, to work on improving the status of teachers in all fields, especially the economic ones... I hope so.
Thanks for reading!
source:
[1] https://www.jts.org.jo/من-نحن
[2] "BBC NEWS",(26 July 2020),"Jordan: Where does the teachers union crisis end?", Retrieved: (5/10/2020) https://www.bbc.com/arabic/interactivity-53546517
[3] "Aljazeera news" , (18/8/2020), "Arrests and bans on publication. Human Rights Watch: Increasing repression of journalists in Jordan", Retrieved: (5/10/2020) https://www.aljazeera.net/news/humanrights/2020/8/18/
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