Teachers demand full wages for Thursday classes
Primary school teachers in Svay Rieng province have demanded full payment of overtime wages for Thursdays, traditionally a day of no primary classes in Cambodia, alleging years of delay, reported newspapers January 3.
A primary teacher who teaches on Thursdays should receive 10,000 riel (about US$2.5) in overtime wages as stipulated by the Ministry of Education, according to a letter thumb-printed by teachers in a number of the schools seeking intervention from Rong Chhun,president of Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA), reported Sralanh Khmer.
However the ministry and its provincial department have paid them the overtime for only a few months each year with numerous wage reductions for unspecified reasons, the teachers claim, reported the newspaper.
According to a CITA letter to the Education minister dated January 2, teachers in all primary schools in the province received only three months of Thursday overtime wages in the academic year 2006-2007. Each time there was also a reduction of 5,000 to 10,000 riel (US$1.25 to US$2.5) for each teacher, added the letter, reported Khmer Machas Srok.
The incidence occurs in many other provinces, said Rong Chhun, accusing that “top level” officials embezzle the money because the ministry never uses up the budget allocated to it by the government, the letter claims, reported Khmer Machas Srok.
The teachers claimed that unless they give some money to their leaders, they will not receive regular payment on time, reported Sralanh Khmer.
The newspapers failed to report comments from officials in charge of the issue.
(Source: Corruption Monitor Bulletin, Issue 2, January 2008)