By Libya Herald reporter.
Tripoli, 12 November 2015:
Most schools in Tripoli are now closed because of a strike by teachers angry at . . .[restrict]not being paid for at least two months. The strike started three days ago and has spread rapidly although not all schools in the city have shut. Posters demanding back pay and teachers’ rights can be seen on many of them, however.
The Tripoli teachers claim that they have been singled out and that colleagues in Misrata and Zawia have received their salaries.
This was rejected by a prominent Tripoli official who asked not to be named.
The problem was bureaucracy, he insisted, not the lack of cash, corruption or political targeting. With the new National ID system, “every number has to be double-checked, then forwarded to the Minisry of Finance for approval, then sent to the Central Bank for authorisation and activation,” he said. It was taking too much time but all state employees, not just teachers, let alone teachers in Tripoli, were suffering as a result.
“If there is a difference [between Tripoli and Misrata],” he stated, “it woud be it a few days, not months”.
However, a teacher at a state school in Benghazi told the Libya Herald today that her salary had been paid regularly every month and was up to date despite state schools being closed for well over a year.
The only schools that are open in the city are private ones. [/restrict]
