Private schools in Sharjah have been told to pay teachers’ salaries in full - and to refund any deductions that were made during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sharjah Private Education Authority, the emirate's school regulator, asked all schools to return deducted salaries to teachers within five working days.
The authority has also barred schools from sacking teachers without prior approval.
“We have issued a circular for private schools not to make any changes with the teaching staff,” said Ali Al Hosni, director of SPEA, during a televised interview on Sharjah TV.
“Whether it’s sacking them, imposing a pay cut, or reducing their salaries, schools cannot do so without consulting with the authority. They need written approval from us.”
He said 98 private school teachers have been laid off, while more than 800 were put on unpaid leave, and another 910 have faced pay cuts.
“We received complaints from teachers asking that we issue a circular to schools,” Mr Al Hosni said.
The note from the authorities said the workload on teachers cannot be increased under the current circumstances.
Some 30 schools asked the authority to allow them to cut teachers’ salaries. Only nine had financial documents to show the cut was actually needed, Mr Al Hosni said.
The authority rejected all nine applications.
“And we will issue a decision that we will not accept any further salary reduction requests in order to protect the quality of education,” he said.
Schools that fail to follow the rules will be penalised.
Mr Al Hosni said that schools in the emirate have received their fees in full from 88 per cent of parents.
Only 12 per cent have delayed payments and that is not a sufficient ground for reducing salaries or sacking teachers.
At an online meeting on June 4 organised by Education Business Group, a private school association representing more than 100 schools in the UAE, some groups said they needed flexibility to put staff on reduced wages or on unpaid leave, and even asked the government for financial support.
Schools across the UAE may continue with e-learning into the next academic year or a hybrid model of in-school classes and home learning in the first term.
An official decision from the government is yet to be made.
