CAIRO: In protest at the education ministry's failure to deliver a 50 percent pay increase, the syndicate for education sector administrators issued a statement criticizing the government for overlooking the difficult economic conditions in Egypt. "Our low salaries cannot keep up with the price hikes in food, real estate and medical services, the statement read. The statement further accused both the Ministries of Education and Finance of "ignoring the administrators' and workers' rights by not implementing [the amended] teachers' law. The People's Assembly (PA) had promised to grant employees of the various education administrations the same 50 percent raise promised to teachers. This raise was supposed to be implemented over a period of three years: 15 percent in the first two years and 20 percent in the third year. "Not implementing this law is an insult to the justice system, the statement read. While protestors say they have exhausted all means to convey their grievances to the government - by sending requests and signing petitions - they have yet to receive a response. In their statement, the protestors threatened to go on strike. The statement claimed that administrators and workers in other sectors in Egypt have benefited from a 75 percent increase in their salaries. Last Thursday, the syndicate for education sector administrators said it plans to start a series of "peaceful protests against the ministry's failure to deliver the 50 percent salary increase. Around 526,000 employees in the education sector will participate in the protest, which will kick off on March 29, by a sit-in for two hours starting 9 am in their work places. This will be followed by another "whole day protest on March 30. Protestors plan to head to the various branches of the Ministry of Education where they will protest in front of the administrative buildings all day.
