Excluded KRI lecturers demand equal contract status

Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah

Lecturers in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) are urging Baghdad and Erbil to reconsider their exclusion from a contract employment scheme covering about 38,000 educators, arguing that some have taught for up to 12 years without receiving the same employment status as their colleagues.

At a press conference, Shabaz Nasser, a representative of the excluded lecturers, cited cases in which lecturers were denied contracts because they had been assigned to permanent staff positions or had taken maternity or sick leave.

Nasser said excluding lecturers on these grounds violated Article 14 of Iraq's Constitution, which guarantees equality and equal opportunities. He also questioned the disparity in treatment between lecturers who qualified for the contract scheme and those who did not, despite having worked in the same profession for years.

The exclusion of women who took maternity leave and lecturers who were temporarily unable to work for health reasons also raised concerns about the legal protections afforded to employees, he added.

Federal Iraq has more than 75 public and private higher education institutions, while the KRI has 16 public and 18 private universities. The universities have a combined enrollment of 186,400 students, including 145,513 at public institutions and 40,887 at private universities, according to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) data.