The Ministry of Education’s Appeals Board for Administrative Violations has upheld or intensified disciplinary rulings against 13 Kurdish teachers, imposing punishments including forced retirement, dismissal, permanent exclusion and exile.
The Kurdistan Teachers’ Trade Association in Sanandaj issued a statement, saying that pressure on its members began shortly after the group’s regular elections in May 2024, with cases being fabricated against the newly elected board members.
The statement continued: “Despite the well-reasoned defence of the association’s board and the negotiations held between the teachers’ community and provincial officials, the disciplinary committee of the Ministry of Education in Kurdistan [Province] issued convictions against all of them. After appeals against the initial verdicts, the cases were referred to the Appeals Board for Administrative Violations at the Ministry of Education. Unfortunately, this board, instead of supporting the teachers’ legitimate demands and lawful activities, confirmed the previous sentences in an unjust and non-independent process and in some cases even increased them.”
According to the Kurdistan Teachers’ Council, the rulings include:
Nasrin Karimi, 26 years of service: forced retirement with a two-grade demotion
Leyla Zarei, 30 years of service: removal from a vice-principalship and forced retirement with a one-grade demotion
Salah Haji-Mirzaei, 26 years of service: one-year suspension from service
Faysal Nouri, 19 years of service: five-year exile to Kermanshah Province
Mohyeddin Reyhani, 26 years of service: five-year ban on appointments to sensitive state posts
Majid Karimi, 21 years of service: dismissal and permanent exclusion from government service
Ghiyas Nemati, 17 years of service: permanent dismissal from the Ministry of Education
The details of the sentences against the remaining teachers have not yet been disclosed.
Source: ANF News
