Unicef mulls payment for nearly 200k Afghan teachers: Taliban

abul, Feb 21 (IANS) The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has announced that the Unicef is considering paying an amount of $100 per month for nearly 200,000 public school teachers.

In a statement on Sunday, the Ministry of Education (MoE) said that more than 40,000 public school teachers have received two months' worth of salaries provided by the UN, and the remaining will be paid within the next two weeks, reports TOLO News.

The Unicef's plan is for a period of two months but it is expected to expand, according to Ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmad Riyan.

"Indeed, the salary of the teachers is $100 which is being paid by Unicef. Those teachers whose salary is more than $100, the Ministry will pay the rest of the money," Riyan added.

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan last August, many workers, including teachers, remained unpaid for a long time as the country faced a sudden economic meltdown following the freezing of nearly $9 billion of the central bank's assets.

To avert a humanitarian disaster, the UN agencies sought to pay the salaries of the employees without putting funds through government departments.

Meanwhile, teachers who were receiving a low salary even during the time of former Afghan governments, said that they were suffering from a deteriorated economic condition.

Hamira, 48, who has been working as a teacher for 28 years, said that she is ill but unable to make appointments with the doctors due to economic challenges.

"I have a lot of problems. I had only my income from teaching to pay the rent and the family's expenses. This is a residence of one of my relatives. I live in their kitchen," she told TOLO News.

Another teacher said: "I borrowed about 150,000 Afs for family expenses. My child was injured in an accident I didn't have money to treat him."