Palestinian teachers' strike enters second month

The Palestinian teachers’ strike has entered its second month as the Palestinian Authority (PA) has still not paid them their full salaries, Quds Press reported yesterday.

Due to the strike, over a million Palestinian students have not been attending schools, pushing families to start a movement in support of the strike.

The teachers started to call for PA President Mahmoud Abbas to step in and resolve their problem as his government has been unable to meet the promises it made last year.

Officials at the Ministry of Education said if the strike lasted one more week it will have “dangerous consequences” for final year secondary school students.

Following the start of the strike on 5 February, the Finance Ministry promised to pay 85 per cent of the salaries before the start of the holy month of Ramadan, but the teachers refused this settlement saying previous promises have still not been met.

A 50-day strike which began in April 2022 ended when the government promised to meet the teachers’ demands, but the government did not keep its word.

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