Sudan teachers go on strike over meagre salaries and dilapidated schools

But her monthly salary of 132,000 Sudanese pounds ($13.20) only covers her family’s basic needs for a few days. Just buying a cooking gas cylinder will set her back about 170,000 pounds ($17). “My salary does not cover even a quarter of our needs. It may not last a family more than three or four days,” Amal told Al Jazeera.

“Teachers are extremely exhausted and have to find other jobs in the evenings to supplement their income. In reality, we have become secondary workers in the education sector.” Beyond their salary issues, teachers are also unhappy with the lack of opportunities for promotion and accumulated unpaid entitlements. They are also worried about deteriorating conditions in schools, caused by war and a lack of investment. Some classrooms at Amal’s school are no longer suitable for teaching.

“There is a classroom where I teach and its roof has collapsed, leaving us directly exposed to the sun. This is the environment in which we teach, and it affects both us and the students,” Amal told Al Jazeera. “Those of us who stayed in Sudan [during the war] lost out.