Protests over job bar for university administrative staff

A spokesperson for the Sana’a University Employees’ Syndicate, Mohammed Abdulqawi Al-Absi, declared a comprehensive strike last Sunday at several of Yemen’s public universities to protest against the passing of a law that allows academics to be elected to senior posts while preventing administrative staff from running for the positions, writes Bassam Al-Shamori for Yemen Times.

Al-Absi told the Yemen Times that the syndicate agreed with a Sana’a University employees decision to instigate a strike. As of last Sunday, the strike was operating at four universities: Sana’a University, Damar University, Ibb University and Amran University.

The new law stipulates that administrative staff at universities cannot be elected as rectors, deans or general secretaries, according to Al-Absi. He maintains that such a law is exclusionary and discriminatory. He went on to say that the general secretary of the university is usually a member of the administrative staff.

Dr Ahmed Aqbat, the adviser to the university rector, told the Yemen Times that the law was implemented because deans and general secretaries are specifically concerned with academics and not administrative issues.
Full report on the Yemen Times site