Irbid – While Jordan’s minimum wage stands at JD290 per month for workers covered by the Labour Law, female teachers at private schools in Irbid Governorate say they have received job offers below that amount. They have also raised concerns over unrecognized work experience, unpaid training, excessive teaching loads and duties extending beyond official working hours.
Teachers who spoke to Al-Ghad on condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs said some employment offers did not reflect their qualifications, experience or the responsibilities required. Meanwhile, some graduates are forced to accept unpaid training in the hope of obtaining an experience certificate or securing a permanent position later.
One teacher recalled receiving a job offer at a school in the Koura District with a monthly salary of JD80, in exchange for working approximately 22 days a month, five hours a day, or around 110 working hours monthly.
She said she later applied for a position at another school with a workload of up to 25 classes per week across three subjects, two of which were outside her specialization, for a salary of JD140. She attempted to negotiate an increase to JD180, but her request was rejected despite having teaching experience and providing private tutoring since 2017.
She believes the problem is not limited to salaries, but also concerns how teachers’ qualifications, experience and responsibilities are valued. A teacher’s work does not end when the lesson finishes, she explained, as it includes lesson preparation, grading, developing activities, monitoring students and communicating with parents, tasks that often continue at home.
Another teacher said some graduates enter the job market through training programs in the hope of obtaining experience certificates or future employment opportunities. However, she said, training can sometimes turn into performing actual classroom duties without compensation.
She explained that trainees may assume the teacher’s main responsibilities, particularly in the teacher’s absence, while their only compensation is the experience gained or the promise of a certificate at a later stage.
Calls for Clear Regulations
She stressed that there is a difference between genuine training, which aims to develop graduates’ skills under professional supervision, and assigning them full daily duties while benefiting from their work without payment.
She called for clear regulations governing training periods, their nature and the tasks assigned to trainees.
A third teacher raised concerns about the recognition of professional experience, saying that some schools, based on her experience, do not count private tutoring when determining salaries, particularly in kindergarten education.
She said differences in curricula or school environments are sometimes used as justification for disregarding previous experience. However, classroom management, working with children, preparing activities and communicating with parents are practical skills that should be recognized.
She added that failing to count years of experience could result in a teacher with several years of professional experience receiving the same salary as a recent graduate, weakening her ability to negotiate better pay.
Another teacher, however, said salaries at private schools cannot be separated from the economic conditions in which these institutions operate, particularly in areas where families have limited ability to pay school fees.
She noted that some schools in Irbid’s districts, including Koura, charge lower tuition fees than schools in central Irbid. She cited one school where annual fees for a first-grade student are approximately JD400, including uniforms, transportation and books, compared with fees reaching JD800, JD1,000 or more at other schools.
She said lower tuition fees limit schools’ ability to increase salaries, but stressed that teachers should not be expected to bear the consequences of this financial equation alone.
A private school owner in Irbid Governorate said discussions about employee salaries should take into account differences in tuition fees between schools in city centers and those in districts and outlying areas.
He explained that schools in some districts operate in an educational market with different economic conditions from those in central Irbid, as families have lower purchasing power, affecting the tuition fees schools can charge.
Schools cannot raise fees without considering parents’ ability to pay, he said, as higher tuition could lead students to transfer to other schools or public education, reducing enrollment and revenue.
At the same time, schools face numerous expenses, including salaries for teachers, administrative staff and workers, building rents, maintenance, electricity, water, transportation, books, stationery and educational equipment.
He stressed that some private schools in Irbid comply with the minimum wage and pay employees their entitlements in accordance with applicable legislation. Complaints or violations in individual cases, he said, should not be generalized to the entire sector.
Intrusion Into Personal Life
The school owner said private school operators recognize the importance of teachers as the foundation of the educational process. Schools seeking to maintain good educational standards need qualified teachers with stable employment.
He added that individual violations should be addressed by the competent regulatory authorities without generalizing them across the private education sector. Schools that comply with the law, he said, bear the costs of salaries and workers’ rights.
He called for dialogue between the Ministries of Education and Labour, school owners and employees to establish mechanisms that protect teachers’ rights while taking into account schools’ economic circumstances and parents’ ability to pay tuition fees.
Complaints are not limited to salaries and working hours. Some teachers also report recruitment conditions they consider an intrusion into their personal lives.
One teacher said some private schools and kindergartens reportedly impose requirements related to the marital status of female job applicants.
She believes teachers should be evaluated according to their qualifications, competence, performance and commitment rather than their social status. She called for investigating any such requirements and determining whether they comply with applicable legislation.
Ashjan Al-Shraideh, a trainer at one of the organizations, said salary conditions at several private schools require serious attention, noting that some teachers receive payments below the minimum wage.
She added that teachers carry responsibilities ranging from lesson preparation and teaching to grading and student follow-up, alongside their living and family obligations. This makes salary levels directly linked to their financial stability.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Labour spokesperson Mohammad Al-Zyoud said the ministry had received 21 wage-related complaints from private education employees in Irbid Governorate since the beginning of the current year, adding that all complaints had been addressed and resolved.
He explained that ministry inspection teams conduct monitoring visits to private schools and request access to records, financial documents and bank transfers related to employees’ salaries. However, some violations may not be detected during visits if no complaint or report has been submitted by employees.
Al-Zyoud said some wage-related practices may take place without being publicly disclosed, making complaints an essential means of enabling the ministry to verify incidents and take the necessary legal action.
He urged private school employees to file complaints whenever they encounter violations involving wages or labour rights.
According to the Ministry of Labour, the minimum wage has stood at JD290 per month since January 1, 2025, and will remain in effect until the end of 2027 for workers covered by the Labour Law, regardless of the method used to pay their wages.
Fines for Violations
The ministry explained that Article 53 of the Labour Law imposes a fine on employers who pay wages below the minimum level, in addition to requiring them to pay the outstanding difference. The penalty is doubled in cases of repeated violations.
Separately, Munther Al-Sourani, president of the Private Schools Owners Association, stressed that private schools must comply with legislation and instructions issued by official authorities, particularly those concerning the minimum wage and teachers’ rights.
He said the legally established minimum wage of JD290 must serve as the basis for salaries at private schools in accordance with applicable legislation.
Al-Sourani explained that private schools operate under different circumstances depending on their locations, particularly between Amman, the governorates and rural areas. Some schools in less affluent communities operate with limited financial resources and face difficulties collecting tuition fees from parents, directly affecting their ability to meet financial obligations, particularly teachers’ salaries.
He added that the issue involves shared responsibilities among several parties. Teachers have the right to receive their full salaries on time, schools have the right to collect their outstanding fees, and parents are responsible for paying tuition on schedule. Otherwise, collection problems may develop into financial difficulties affecting both schools and their employees.
Al-Sourani pointed out that some schools reportedly register teachers’ salaries at the minimum-wage level while having undisclosed agreements with certain teachers to return part of the salary to the administration.
He acknowledged that such cases may exist in some schools but said they should not be generalized across the sector. The fundamental requirement, he stressed, is for schools to comply with regulations, ensure teachers receive all their entitlements and refrain from paying salaries below the legally established minimum.
He noted that private schools do not all have the same financial capabilities. Some have substantial resources, while others in villages and governorates operate with limited means and face challenges related to student enrollment, tuition collection and operating costs. The sector must therefore be assessed with consideration for its different components.
Al-Sourani also stressed that establishing a private school requires comprehensive financial and administrative planning to ensure its long-term sustainability. Simply securing limited capital and beginning to enroll students, only to later face financial deficits, borrowing and an inability to pay teachers and employees, is not a sustainable approach.
He emphasized that a school is both an investment and an educational project requiring careful planning and the ability to meet long-term obligations.
He noted that several private schools that had complied with salary and employee benefit requirements later suffered financial losses and were forced to sell or close because they could no longer meet accumulated obligations and debts.
Financial sustainability, he explained, is essential to preserving jobs and ensuring stability in the educational process.
Significant Operating Costs
Al-Sourani explained that private schools face substantial operating expenses, including water, electricity, telecommunications and internet bills, rent, teachers’ and administrators’ salaries, bus expenses, insurance, licensing fees, Social Security contributions and penalties for late payments.
These obligations constitute a broad range of recurring expenses that schools must continuously cover, he said.
He added that penalties for delayed Social Security contributions place an additional burden on schools already experiencing financial difficulties. Outstanding amounts may accumulate over time, while some schools struggle to pay even the original amounts owed, further worsening their financial problems.
He stressed that one of the most significant challenges facing private schools is the failure of some parents to pay tuition fees on time. This leaves school administrations struggling to secure the liquidity needed to cover monthly expenses, particularly teachers’ salaries.
Al-Sourani urged parents to meet their financial obligations to private schools, emphasizing that failure to pay tuition does not affect school administrations alone. Its consequences extend to teachers and other employees who depend on their salaries to meet their living expenses.
Schools, he said, have fixed obligations that cannot be postponed, whether salaries, utility bills or operating expenses.
He added that the relationship between schools and parents should be based on mutual commitment: students must receive their right to education, teachers must receive their salaries, and schools must be able to collect their dues and meet their obligations toward employees and other parties.
Al-Sourani concluded that stability in the private education sector is a shared responsibility among schools, parents and official authorities. He called for a balance that protects teachers’ rights while ensuring schools remain operational through compliance with sector regulations and stronger commitment to paying tuition fees on time.
Source: Al-Ghad
