Gazan teachers cry foul as hundreds lose jobs in private schools

AMMAN — After 14 years of teaching first graders for a salary of JD190, Nour Fayez, a holder of a temporary Jordanian passport, lost her job at a private school.

Just like she used to do at the start of every school year, Fayez went this year to the Department of Palestinian Affairs to renew her work permit as a Gazan teacher serving at a private school only to learn that her application was refused on the pretext that she is not a holder of a national number.

"It was a slap in the face. I've also been told that since my mother is not Jordanian, there is no way for me to continue working at the school," she told The Jordan Times.

With the job gone, Fayez's six-member family has lost one of its main providers.

She is one of hundreds of Gazans who have lost their jobs in private schools under a recent government decision to restrict work in a number of professions to Jordanians.

While such a decision is part of efforts to streamline the labour market, parliamentarians, columnists and experts on labour-issues criticised labelling Gazans as guest workers who compete with Jordanians.

"Gazans are not here by their choice and cannot go back to their country even if they want to. They are also not guest workers and should not be treated this way," said Ahmad Awad, director of the Phoenix Centre for Economic and Informatics Studies.

Noting that at least 800 to 1,000 Gazans have been affected by the relevant Education Ministry regulations, issued in line with the government decision, Awad called for a clear strategy to deal with Gazans and holders of temporary passports.

He cited an Arab League resolution that entails treating Gazans in their respective host communities as citizens in all areas of life, granting them all rights, except political ones.

Jerash MP Huda Etoum said Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat instructed the Civil Service Bureau not to issue any work permits for Gazans in private and international schools, which, she said, violates the rights of hundreds of people.

Columnist Fahed Khitan also denounced the decision, saying that authorities have been “confiscating historical gains” for the people of Gaza in Jordan, starting with their rights to own land for housing purposes and to compete  for university seats, to treating them on an equal footing with guest workers who willingly come to Jordan to work and have the right to go back to their countries.

“The government’s decisions regarding Gazans continue to turn their lives into hell and have led tens of thousands to fall prey to poverty and need,” he noted, stressing that there is no reason that should prevent Gazans from being treated as Palestinian refugees.

Omar Kollab, head of a committee that follows up on Gazans’ issues in Jordan, said the committee sent a letter to Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh on Sunday, pleading for reversing the decision. 

“In the letter, we denounced moves that tighten the grip on Gazans in Jordan, especially that a Cabinet decision was made in 2005 to grant them their full civil rights,” he told The Jordan Times. 

He quoted “informed sources” as telling him on Wednesday that a committee was formed of members from the Department of Palestinian Affairs, the Civil Service Bureau and education and labour ministries to re-examine the decision. 

“There are around 825 Gazans who work in private schools, with some having been there for 20 years… we are not calling for employing Gazans in the public sector, but want them to compete in the labour market,” Kollab highlighted. 

Officials in the Education Ministry were not available for comment despite several attempts to reach them.