- First of all, what impact did the terrible earthquake have on education?
Many teachers also lost their lives and others were injured. Many school buildings have been destroyed. Others are so badly damaged that you can no longer enter them. A number of our union offices have also been completely destroyed. Together with the education council of the autonomous region of Rojava – comparable to a ministry of education – we have drawn up a list. It says how bad the damage is, how many schools have been destroyed.
- What is the professional situation of teachers in Rojava? How much do you earn?
Our teachers earn twice as much as the teachers who teach for the Assad regime. That’s good. Still, that’s not much. They are paid for by the Board of Education. But he also has other tasks: he also has to rebuild schools that have been damaged by the war. He invests a lot of money in teaching materials. The school children also need financial support. In addition, schools are currently being bombed by the Turkish military and the IS terrorist militia is continuing to carry out attacks. All of this creates additional expenses for the Board of Education. Overall the situation is difficult. Because Rojava also suffers from the economic embargo against the region.
- The Education Union of Rojava was formed in 2013. How do you see your work, how is the union evolving?
The work we do is a process. We have a lot of young teachers that we want to approach and convince them to work in unions. Our goal is to have a union representative in every school who can report on the situation in the schools. The teachers are also in contact with the parents and the children. Criticisms from parents and children can also be brought up at conferences that we hold regularly. Then we’ll talk about it.
