Teachers in Upper Nile State’s Melut County have decried non-payment of their salaries and demanded immediate government intervention.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj over the weekend, several teachers expressed dissatisfaction over the government’s inaction and said they had been left to suffer after having worked for months.
Miem Nyol, said their situation was deteriorating.
“We have not been paid for nine months. We recently received salaries for February and March in South Sudan pounds, yet our contract was in hard currency,” he said.
“We have just ended the academic year, and it is very unfortunate that the money we deserve was not being given to us. We keep raising our concerns with the government without any intervention,” he added.
Another complainant identified only as Deng, urged the government to address their concern.
“We have just completed our task and closed for this academic year. We want to go for holidays but we are not being paid. We recently received two months while nine months have not been paid for. We keep meeting with government officials but no positive response yet. If there is any other solution, we may take legal action later on,” he said.
County Education Director Zechariah Wai Akol admitted awareness of teachers’ concern and blamed the country’s economic crisis for the prolonged pay delay.
“These teachers deserve the monies they are talking about. We did not refuse to pay them. However, the problem is that we have not received our 3 percent share of the oil revenue from the national government since February. This economic hardship is a countrywide problem and our teachers should be patient. As a director, I am also suffering because I wish to receive my salary as well. We don’t really understand the motive of our teachers for taking this to the media,” he said.
Last month, a group of 38 teachers employed to Melut accused the local authorities of unfairly ending their employment without pay and have since sued the government at a High court in Juba.
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