Teachers from the public schools, both Primary and Secondary, in Nyamlell County in Lol State say they are on strike in demand for pay rise.

Their representative, Peter Machot, said the salaries should have been tripled in line with a previous decision by the Council of Ministers. He said the teachers were to be paid their salary for September, but they decided to stop teaching when it was clear there was no increment.

“There was an information that the have been increase with 300 percent for the lower grade, grade 12, grade 14, grade 7& 8 with different percent but to [our] surprise, the [State] Minister of Finance has called for a meeting and said there is no increase yet,” said Machot.

Mr. Machot said there are 400 teachers in the county. It is not clear if all of them have stopped teaching.

In response, the Minister of Finance in the State, William Anyua, denied knowledge of any strike. He said the pay has not been increased because his ministry has not received a clear data from the Ministry of Education.

“The teachers are getting their salaries from yesterday up to now, there is no strike. We didn’t give them that 300 percent increment, but we gave them base on the previous structure,” said Anyua.

Mr. Anyua said the teachers are being paid January salary, adding the amount is not even enough to pay all the teachers in the State.