Teachers' strike for better wages

More than 3,500 girls may be forced to discontinue their studies as the teaching staff of the Higher Secondary School in Jalalabad have gone on strike to demand wages and better working conditions in educational institutions.

"We have not been paid since the schools were opened six months ago after the ouster of the Taliban. Security personnel get their monthly salaries without fail, but the teachers are ignored," Pohyalai Malalai Safi, principal of the school told reporters in Jalalabad on Sunday.

"About 80 teachers are on strike from Sunday and will not attend classes till our salaries are paid," the principal said, adding that the non-payment of wages had caused numerous economic problems for the teaching staff. "For how long can we teach without salary," she asked.

Aalaee Lisa, the oldest school in Nangarhar, had about 3,500 girl pupils during the last six months and the number of students increases day by day due to the return of Afghan refugees from neighboring Pakistan. UNHCR has reported that an estimated 450,000 refugees have been repatriated this year and many more refugees have expressed willingness or registered their names for repatriation.

"The media too is keeping mum on the issue. Seminars and workshops are organised by the UN and other NGOs to highlight importance of education, but no arrangements have been made to pay the teachers", the principal said.

The situation is the same in other cities and parts of war-torn Afghanistan where teachers and government employees are forced to perform their duties without getting monthly salaries. The amount paid to the employees, Afghans believe, is too meagre, and can hardly feed large families.

"We have recommended to the government and taken a decision that these teachers will get paid. It has not been possible for us to pay salaries to them since the Mujahideen took over control of Kabul in 1992," said Afghan-istan's minister for Education, Professor Rasul Amin.