Days after a video of an Egyptian school guard, Mohammed Kamal Jaafar, went viral where he bemoaned that he hadn’t received his salary for over five months, a similar incident was reported of another guard employed by a Kindergarten school in Farwaniya, who complained that he had not received his salary for 13 months, Al Rai reported.
Between their companies and the Ministry of Education, the security guards are awaiting some reprieve that they will be able to take their earnings that allow them to give their families a decent life, especially in light of the current health crisis that has affected all professions, with very few emerging unscathed from its economic consequences. The guard confirmed that he and his colleagues are enduring difficult conditions that no one can handle.
He said that he lives on the assistance of neighbors adjacent to their homes in the kindergarten, in addition to the help of the kindergarten director and some of the teachers.
For his part, a responsible source revealed to Al-Rai that the company’s contract with the ministry was officially terminated on July 31, and all the guards knew about that, and the late salaries they owed were only 4 payments for the months of April, May, June and July, confirming that the ministry officially informed them of that but they decided to stay in school, because they live off teachers ’help.
The source reassured that their case is on its way to a solution, as the amount was seized by the Financial Department for the mentioned 4 months, and its transfer is underway to the Public Authority for Manpower to start the disbursement process, adding: “We cannot disburse them directly, because their contracts are with a private company and its management which has some problems since the beginning of the Coronavirus crisis, so we will transfer the amount to the authority, with deductions for fines, if any, which will then be given to them for their salaries.”
Regarding the reason for their staying in schools despite the end of the contract, he said, “The Company has legal problems and does not have a shelter for the guards, so the ministry decided on humanitarian grounds, to give the guards the choice to stay in the housing allocated for them inside the schools or to leave. It is likely that their salaries will be disbursed early next week at the latest.”
The source pointed out that more than one MP had intervened in the case of guards and security officers, the last occurrence which came to light in the beginning of this week, when one of the MPs met with the Minister of Education, Dr. Ali Al-Mudhaf, and the minister approved the salaries of 170 security, and they were transferred to be disbursed by the financial sector.