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Lecturers come out on strike

Mohamed Rehan
08 May 2022, MVT 17:41
Lecturers out on strike over their exclusion from state's move to bump salaries of educators -- Photo: Nishan Ali | Mihaaru
Mohamed Rehan
08 May 2022, MVT 17:41

Lecturers have come out on strike voicing their frustration over their apparent exclusion from the salary bump for educators.

According to lecturers at the Maldives National University (MNU) they made a formal request for a remuneration increment a year back to Ministry of Finance, which was not officially acknowledged.

Following President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's promise of bumping salaries for educators, lecturers had celebrated a short-lived anticipatory victory which ended with further grief when they were visibly excluded from the recently implemented salary bump.

Many lecturers had viewed this as a stern "slap on their faces."

This has resulted in lecturers stepping out on strike voicing their frustration over the apparent discrimination.

Meanwhile, sometime during last week Minister of Education Dr. Aishath Ali at a press conference claimed that over 8,800 educators will receive the salary bump.

Since the official implementation, salaries have increased between 37 percent to 87 percent for educators.

Lecturers have come out on a strike at a time when Minister of Finance Mr. Ibrahim Ameer had affirmed that the remuneration increment does, indeed include lecturers.

The minister had further affirmed that the new salary framework will be shared within a not-too-distant future.

An Assistant Professor of MNU, Dr. Aminath Shafiya Adam had spoken to local media outlet, "Mihaaru" claiming that the salaries for lecturers remained stagnant for the past ten years.

She further noted that they had refrained from actively raising any concerns in hopes of a positive step by the government on their own volition.

Ms. Adam has been one of the key contributors of a recent research conducted by MNU to assess challenges observed in acquiring skilled teachers.

Moreover, she had further stated that the exclusion of lecturers from educators' segment when ensuring the remuneration bump, was a gross discrimination against them.

Another lecturer of the national university, Ms. Aziza Afeef celebrated the victory for teachers, noting many of these teachers had once been her pupils.

She further asserted that the remuneration bump for educators, was indeed a well deserved outcome. However, she also made emphasis on the apparent exclusion of lecturers from the the salary bump, calling for their inclusion as well.

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