AMMAN — Despite the decision issued
by the
Council of Ministers to postpone the beginning of the second school term
to February 20, some private schools went against the order and decided to
start school on February 1, to the dismay of some teachers who complain that
they did not have enough official leave.
اضافة اعلان
A private sector teacher who spoke
on condition of anonymity told
Jordan News that she initially refused to
start teaching early because she wanted to spend more time with her family, which
she considered her right, but the school told her that failure to work during
that period would be considered unpaid leave.
Jordanian Teachers Syndicate's
lawyer Bassam Freihat told
Jordan News that it is “illegal” for private
schools to start the term earlier than requested by the Cabinet.
Freihat said that teachers have the
legal right to enjoy a vacation between the two semesters, and that the Ministry
of Education approves the official dates for the start and end of the school year,
so any change schools undertake is unofficial and not binding on teachers, who
should not be threatened with salary cuts.
Head of the
Syndicate of Private School Owners Munther Al-Sourani said that teachers work throughout the year,
that they are obliged to work according to the contracts they signed with the
school, and that they are paid for the entire year.
According to Sourani, “the teacher
shall have annual leave only; otherwise, he has to work as stipulated in the
work contract and as stipulated by law”.
That said, he considers the decision
of some schools to start the semester too early a violation of the
Ministry of Education decision. “Even if it is distance education, it should not be counted
as part of what the school must provide in face-to-face teaching,” he said.
Director of the Special Education
Department Mohammad Alwan told
Jordan News that what governs the work of
teachers in the private sector is the contract between them and the school, and
therefore, the Ministry of Education has nothing to do with it.
Still, Alwan said, “there is no
face-to-face semester before February 20”.
According to Alwan, some five schools
announced that they would start teaching on February 1 and that these schools
were asked to revise their decision.
He said that an official paper was
issued prohibiting face-to-face education until February 20.
Distance education, he said, is done
to compensate and help students make up for the time lost due to closures.
Thus, while the ministry's decisions
was issued to prevent direct contact between students, "we do not prohibit
the provision of classes remotely”, to help students, he said.
At the same time, Alwan emphasized that
remote classes will not be “counted as part of the face-to-face classes that
will start at the beginning of the second semester, they are not compulsory, and
they can be done only with the guardian’s approval.
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