Teachers’ Leader Summoned as Sudanese Educators Report Intimidation

Moatinoon
The Sudanese Teachers’ Committee said security authorities in Kassala State summoned the committee’s state chairman, Sayed Tumba, on Tuesday for questioning over his union activities and his role in advocating for teachers’ rights and demands.

The summons comes as teachers’ strikes and protests continue to spread across several Sudanese states, where educators are demanding higher wages, payment of salary arrears, allowances, and other outstanding benefits amid worsening living conditions, rising inflation, and soaring prices.

In a press statement, the committee said teachers are continuing to press for better salaries, payment of delayed financial entitlements, and improved working conditions that preserve teachers’ dignity and enable them to carry out their educational mission.

The committee reaffirmed its commitment to peaceful and lawful means of defending teachers’ rights and rejected any measures aimed at restricting union activities or targeting education-sector activists.

In a related development, the Teachers’ Committee in East Nile locality accused authorities of taking punitive measures against school administrators and teachers participating in the strike movement.

According to the committee, several school principals and administrators were dismissed from their positions, while a number of teachers were summoned by security authorities for questioning.

The committee said educators had exercised their peaceful right to strike in pursuit of improved professional and living conditions, arguing that the questioning of teachers over their labor activism amounts to intimidation of education workers.

It called for the reversal of dismissal decisions, the reinstatement of affected school administrations, an end to the summoning of teachers, and the opening of serious dialogue to address educators’ demands and outstanding financial entitlements.

The developments come amid a growing wave of teacher protests in Khartoum, Kassala, Al Jazirah, Northern, White Nile, and other states, where teachers have launched strikes and work stoppages over low wages, delayed salaries, and accumulated financial dues.

Teachers argue that the continuing economic crisis, rising living costs, and the erosion of the purchasing power of salaries have made it increasingly difficult to continue working without meaningful improvements in their conditions. Teachers’ committees warn that the stability of the education system is now directly linked to a serious response to educators’ demands.