Teachers in Sudan set to demonstrate today over salary demands

The Sudanese Teachers’ Committee announced yesterday that they would hold a demonstration outside the Council of Minister’s offices in Khartoum today, as well as deliver a memorandum detailing their salary demands.

According to the teachers, they received a bonus payment that amounted to 50 per cent of their basic salary.  However, the committee describes this payment as providing no real benefit for teaching staff, due to the payment barley covering the cost of living. The committee added that the “bonus payment was merely used as a means to placate teachers”.

Comprehensive strike

Earlier this year, the teachers’ committee organised a nationwide comprehensive strike in protest of not receiving their full financial dues, such as back-payments that were owed to them as far back as 2020.

In April, their strike efforts led to a meeting with Sudan’s chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council and Commander of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, in order to review the committee’s unmet demands.

The agreed upon pledges by the Ministry of Finance in the meeting concerned the salaries and shortfall in payments, according to the full outlined structure, as well as disbursing an Eid al Fitr grant.

The teaching delegation also asked El Burhan to abolish his recent decisions that impacted teachers, and to ensure that teachers would not be punished for “exercising their rightful right to strike”.