In Jordan, the frequency of objections to abuses committed by many private schools against their employees is increasing, under the heading of austerity policies and the accompanying low salaries and arbitrariness in increasing fees and other requirements, which also burdens parents of students.

Most private schools, which are estimated at thousands, try in every way to reduce expenses at the expense of workers and facilities that are supposed to be provided to students and staff, despite the high financial returns they achieve annually.

Informed people told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that private schools contract with teachers for salaries that do not exceed 300 dinars (about 420 dollars) on paper, but they actually pay them only a small amount that may not exceed 150 dinars per month. High unemployment and diminishing employment opportunities in the public sector.

The past few years witnessed the transfer of a large number of students from private schools to public ones due to the high financial costs and the lack of quality education in a number of them.

In the strangest behavior of the private school sector, one of them directed an official circular to the teachers working for them, asking them to schedule the pregnancy so that the birth would take place during the summer vacation period, which extends from June to the end of August of each year.

This behavior has raised widespread objections and criticism of private schools, calling on the Ministry of Education to intervene to hold the school accountable, to open the file of these schools in general, and to address the abuses they commit, and the exaggeration of tuition fees and other allowances.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Education, Ahmed Al-Masafa, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the circular issued by the private school is “absolutely unacceptable and unacceptable. these actions.”

He added, “Maternity leave is a right for the teacher, and it is not permissible in any way to interfere in these private and personal matters.”

Social media platforms are still filled with objections and criticism of the private school’s behavior, pending the punitive measures the government will take against it to protect society and preserve personal and private rights in the lives of teachers and individuals in general.

The school in question tried to defend and absolve itself of the generalization and evade its responsibility, by blaming its employees, but it was unable to convince the public opinion.

The school said, in a statement, that it intends to open an extensive investigation regarding the issued circular and hold those responsible accountable, and stated that the circular “does not express the opinion of the school administration, but rather it is a personal decision from its source, and it is not considered by the school administration.”

The coordinator of the national team “Stand up with the teacher,” Nariman Al-Shawahin, said that “violations and violations of the rights of teachers in private schools are being monitored daily, and monitoring by the Ministries of Labor and Education is necessary to reduce these violations.”

The head of the General Union of Private Education Workers and the head of the Jordanian General Confederation of Trade Unions, Mazen Maaytah, said, in a press statement, that “this behavior contradicts the rights and freedoms of women, especially since the Social Security Corporation guaranteed the maternity salary, and therefore there is no justification for this behavior.”

Al-Maaytah stressed that “the arbitrary use of power is a clear violation of women’s right to motherhood, and this matter should not go unnoticed,” pointing to the necessity of issuing a warning from the two concerned ministries (labor and education) to ensure that women’s rights are fully guaranteed in the labor market to ensure their protection.

The New Arab