After 4 weeks, school year in Jordan finally opens with end of teachers’ strike

AMMAN, Jordan — Teachers in Jordan have ended their longest strike ever and are opening the school year four weeks late.

Nasser al-Nawasrah, the deputy head of the teacher’s union, said Sunday a salary raise between 35-75% has been secured depending on teacher ranks. He called it a “historic agreement” that sent Jordan’s 1.42 million students back to school.

The union went on strike because it said the government hasn’t implemented a 50% salary increase promised in 2014. Some of the teacher protests that followed had them scuffling with security forces.

Jordan is a staunch military and political ally of the West in a turbulent region.

In June 2018, a proposed tax hike triggered strikes and the largest anti-government protests in recent years, eventually leading King Abdullah II to replace his prime minister.