Libya’s Education Ministry cuts salaries of 150.000 employees

BY Libyan Express Oct 29, 2019 - 12:57

Tripoli's Saraya Al-Hamra — Tripoli’s Saraya Al-Hamra. [Photo: Internet]

Libya’s Education Ministry of the Government of National Accord has stopped the salaries of over 150,000 teachers and other education ministry staff who do not have proper documents, the ministry said in an anti-corruption push that sparked protests.

The education ministry said in a statement late on Sunday that the affected staff had been receiving salaries without providing documents that prove they work in government offices.

More than 800 education administrative staff will also be questioned for violating laws such as being absent from work without permission, the ministry said.

Hundreds of teachers protested in the capital and other cities to demand the dismissal of the Tripoli-based education minister Othman Abduljaleel.

Teachers have been on strike for weeks to demand salary increases, delaying the resumption of classes after the summer break. The new school year was due to start on Oct. 13.

Several schools in Tripoli have been closed to house families displaced by an offensive by eastern forces under Khalifa Haftar’s command trying to take the capital since April.

Public salaries make up more than half of public spending, which depends on oil and gas revenues, the country’s only economic resource.

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