Head of the UNRWA Arab Staff Union in Gaza Suhail Al-Hindi said yesterday that the organisation’s Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl accepted demands that classrooms should have no more than 39 pupils and a request to hire 270 new teachers, Safa news agency reported.
Al-Hindi said that UNRWA would call on teachers to apply for work in the organisation very soon.
Several months ago, UNRWA announced it would stop hiring new employees for five years and would not pay teachers during holidays because of its current financial crisis.
To protest against these decisions, in addition to the new UNRWA policy of putting around 50 students in each classroom, the organisation’s teachers refused to start the school year as was planned last Tuesday.
Al-Hindi said that all issues were resolved except the one regarding the unpaid holiday, stressing that discussions with Krähenbühl have not ended. He expected a solution to be reached within days.
Krähenbühl arrived in Gaza yesterday for discussions with UNRWA employees in order to sort out the outstanding issues which delayed the start of the school year in UNRWA schools.
Safa reported him saying that not all issues had been resolved however he had assured staff that their salaries are guaranteed until the end if this year.