For fifth day | Teaching personnel strike in Deir Ezzor countryside

Deir Ezzor province: SOHR activists have reported that teachers and employees in Al-Shafa’a town in Deir Ezzor countryside went on a strike, protesting against low salaries, and in response of a call to strike in Deir Ezzor countryside, where people in several villages and towns participated in the strike.

Teachers demanded higher salaries and called to activate the role of organizations in the area and to provide these organizations working freedom without imposing taxes on them, and to appoint school guards in different SDF-held areas.

It is worth noting that this strike continues for the fifth consecutive day, and included Suwaydan Jazira, Al-Taianiyah, Zaiban and Al-Shafa’a schools, and other areas in Deir Ezzor countryside.

 

On March 17, SOHR sources reported that teachers in several towns in west Deir Ezzor countryside announce the start of a strike, demanding increase of their salaries, as the current salaries did not meet their monthly expenses, as they described, especially with the ongoing freefall of the Syrian lira against the US dollar.

 

According to SOHR sources, several male and female teachers working at schools in the towns of Al-Keser, Al-Zaghira, Jazeera, Al-Jazarat and the areas of Al-Izba and Al-Ma’yzilah participated in this strike.

 

SOHR sources also reported that the teachers demanded activation of the role of the “Teachers’ Union” and appointment of guards at schools in theses areas. This strike came a few days after announcement about a strike by teachers in Theban, Swidan Jazira and Al-Tayyanah in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

 

Speaking to SOHR, a 37-year-old teacher known by his initials as M. S. and works in a preparatory school in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor said, “since two years, the ‘Teachers’ Union’ has deducted 2,500 SYL from the teachers’ salaries under ‘medical support.’ However, the union does not care less about the educational process.”

 

Another teacher known as A. N. from the western countryside of Deir Ezzor told SOHR, “education sector in west Deir Ezzor countryside lost 35 teachers in 2021, as they immigrated due to the poor living conditions and low salaries in light of the sharp fall in exchange rate of the Syrian pound against the US dollar. In addition, most of the region’s schools have been put out of service, after having turned into military headquarters by ISIS during their control of the area.”