Teachers postpone strike after meeting with President

The Teachers’ Association has decided to postpone their strike, after being granted further opportunities to negotiate.

The strike by teachers scheduled for Tuesday was put off until the association could meet with President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

After meeting President Yameen today, Vice President of the Teachers’ Association Abdulla Razee told Sun that the decision whether to go on strike, will depend on how the negotiations go with the government.

He said the President requested the association to present a proposal next month regarding increasing teachers’ salaries, and that for now, the association will prioritize submitting this proposal to the President.

“Things went this far due to lack of cooperation from the ministry. The ministry does not want to negotiate. The President assured us that from now on, we will get the cooperation that we need from the ministry,” Razee said.

Three main issues were discussed in the meeting, which were teachers’ salaries, government recognising the Teachers’ Association as a union for teachers, and steps to be taken by the government to ensure the security of students, Razee said.

Razee said that overall the meeting was positive, and that there was indication that some issues that were discussed could be settled even within the year.