Most of those affected claimed the state Education ministry deleted the names.
A teacher, who preferred anonymity, said his name and for colleagues who protested salary cuts were removed from pay slips, yet they continued teaching.
“The Northern Bahr el Ghazal Ministry of Education removed us because we addressed the media on the salary slash,” he told Sudans Post.
“They started releasing the salaries on Tuesday evening at the Ministry of Education headquarters and when we went there, we were surprised by the removal of our names (all teachers who were complaining),” he added.
According to the teacher, about 56 teachers in Aweil municipality are affected.
The dissenting teachers are accused of taking their grievances to media outlets.
On Friday, the state Education minister, Santino Bol Akok downplayed the teachers’ strike, saying learning is ongoing across the state without interruption.
“Sometimes there is this speculation that teachers are striking, there is nothing of that kind because teachers are now in classes, they are teaching,” said Akok.
He added, “You cannot just call yourself a teacher unless you report to your duty station. As the Ministry of General Education and the state government, we don’t have any teachers on strike. Most of the schools are in classes”.
Akok said a committee has been instituted to pay salaries for genuine teachers.
“The team is here to verify, make sure whoever is getting money is a real teacher with correct names and on a working ID. So they started getting their money yesterday [Monday], today and even some days to come,” he explained.
Last month, Aweil teachers protested over salary cuts till their demands are met.
In a petition addressed to the national Education minister, the teachers demanded the release of SSP 214 million allegedly deducted from their salary for July, 2023.
“We have been having issue of cut for the month of June and July 2023 which make total amount of 214 million,” said Luka Lual, a teachers’ representative.
The education calendar commences from February 5, 2024 to May 10, 2024.
