School teachers go on strike in South Darfur capital

One thousand three hundred (1300) primary and secondary school teachers in central Nyala went on strike against work, violating the agreement between the government and the General Union which stated that the strike should be lifted immediately last week. The strike led to the closure of 31 primary schools and a number of secondary schools. Nyala is the largest city in Darfur and the center of government power in the southern part of the region. According to the head of the Union of educators in central Nyala, Abdul Rahman Musa, the teachers are refusing to abide by the agreement between the General Union and the government, which he said did not offer real solutions to the crisis. He told Radio Dabanga that the agreement had inadequately tackled the issue of payment of salary arrears, which Musa said total 74 billion Sudanese pounds.

The government had promised 1.2 billion during the first seven to ten days from the agreement and 1.8 billion on the eleventh of the coming month, in addition to a billion every month thereafter for the dues of the insurance fund. Musa also revealed that the salary dues of the teachers of central Nyala alone total 107 million pounds for the year 2007, in addition to the difference published for the year 2008 and promotions from 2006 to 2008 and bonuses of the retirees for the years 2009 to 2011, and the payments of the social insurance funds.