Dozens of male and female teachers staged a sit-in in the city of Hassakeh thursday, Thursday, in front of the Directorate of Education building. The protestors demanded the disbursement of their overdue salaries and their permanent integration into the cadre of the Syrian Ministry of Education.
This mobilization comes amid ongoing delays in resolving the administrative status of thousands of employees affected by the merger file between the institutions of the Autonomous Administration and the Syrian government, pursuant to the January 29 agreement.
Suspended Salaries and an Uncertain Future
The protestors demanded the swift disbursement of their outstanding financial dues, noting that approximately 20,000 teachers covered under the merger agreement have not received their salaries for two months, despite having completed all required procedures since the start of the integration arrangements. The demands also included permanently appointing these employees to the Ministry of Education’s official registry, ending months of career ambiguity.
Participating teachers stated that they had submitted all necessary paperwork following the initiation of the merger procedures. They added that the Syrian government had only disbursed salaries for the month of May, while teachers received no compensation for the subsequent months.
Protestors emphasized that the salary delays have directly impacted their living conditions amid a continuous rise in the cost of living and declining purchasing power. They pointed out that thousands of families have become dependent on borrowing or humanitarian aid to cover their basic, daily needs.
The demonstrators called on the transitional government to clarify the reasons behind the delay and to establish a transparent mechanism for disbursing accumulated dues, arguing that continued procrastination only worsens the instability experienced by workers in the educational sector.
Repeated Protests Without Solutions
Thursday’s sit-in is not the first mobilization by teachers under the merger agreement. On June 2, teachers in Hassakeh held a protest in front of the Directorate of Education to demand the payment of overdue financial dues and the acceleration of their administrative processing. However, those demands met no tangible response, prompting teachers to return to the streets just a few weeks later.
Furthermore, hundreds of teachers in Raqqa, as well as in Al-Shaddadi, Al-Arisha, and Markada, declared an open-ended strike and suspended classes in several schools in February 2026. This was done to protest delays in finalizing their employment status and the lack of clear decisions regarding their integration into the Ministry of Education’s permanent cadre. At the time, they also demanded the deployment of specialized committees to complete the integration procedures and secure their professional and financial rights.
Protestors argue that the recurring strikes and sit-ins over the past months reflect a failure by government authorities to address the file with genuine seriousness, despite repeated promises to resolve integration issues. They assert that the ongoing delay in paying salaries—and keeping thousands of teachers in administrative limbo—forces the educators to bear the consequences of government dysfunction alone. This, they warn, threatens the stability of the educational process in the region at a time of rising complaints over the faltering implementation of commitments associated with the previously announced merger agreements.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
