Kurdish teachers’ union vows to continue fight after Iraq’s supreme court dismisses lawsuit

KIRKUK — Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit on Tuesday that sought to transfer the leave of Kurdish-language teachers and staff in Kirkuk from the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Education to the Federal Ministry of Education’s General Directorate of Kurdish Studies. The ruling has sparked frustration among educators, with the Kurdish Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan vowing to continue their fight.

The lawsuit, filed on September 2, 2024, by nine Kurdish teachers and staff, petitioned Iraq’s prime minister, the Kurdistan Region’s prime minister, and the speaker of Iraq’s Parliament. It aimed to shift responsibility for their leave to federal jurisdiction, primarily to resolve salary payment delays and ensure timely pay under federal oversight. However, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court dismissed the case on October 15, citing a lack of jurisdiction. The court’s rulings are final and binding.

In Kirkuk, Sinjar, and Khanaqin—disputed areas between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq’s federal government—multiple education systems coexist. One of these is the Kurdish-language education system, administered by the KRG. The KRG provides salaries, qualifications, teaching materials, and programs for Kurdish-language schools in these regions to maintain consistent education for Kurdish students. However, other systems, such as Arabic and Turkmen-language education, fall under the Iraqi federal government’s purview, including a separate Kurdish-language program.

Currently, around 8,000 Kurdish teachers and staff work in Kirkuk, including over 6,500 teachers and about 1,500 administrative staff. The annual cost of their salaries is estimated at 80 billion Iraqi dinars. Financial challenges have severely impacted the KRG’s ability to pay salaries on time since 2023, leading to widespread frustration. The lawsuit sought to resolve this issue by transferring payment responsibilities to Baghdad.

Ahmed Sabir Germiani, head of the Kurdish Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan, condemned the ruling as “unjust” in an interview with 964media, emphasizing that Kurdish educators should not be penalized for delays stemming from budget disputes. Germiani added that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s government had previously supported the transfer, but opposition from hardline members of Iraq’s Parliament blocked it.

Germiani emphasized: “We will not remain silent in the face of this decision […] The Al-Sudani government previously approved the transfer, but it was later blocked due to pressure from certain hardline members of Iraq’s Parliament.”

The complexity of the education system in these disputed areas lies at the heart of the controversy, where Kurdish, Arabic, and other programs coexist. In Kirkuk alone, the KRG-managed Kurdish education system serves nearly 100,000 students across 555 schools. Similarly, in Sinjar (part of Nineveh Governorate) and Khanaqin (part of Diyala Governorate), Kurdish and Arabic educational programs both operate, with around 6,500 teachers employed in Kurdish-language education in these areas.

Despite the court’s ruling, the Kurdish Teachers’ Union has vowed to continue advocating for teachers’ rights, aiming to ensure the financial stability and educational integrity of the Kurdish-language education system in these regions.