Teachers have gone on a week-long strike in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, demanding higher salaries and better working conditions.

Fazel Ahmad Fazel, the head of Afghanistan’s Teachers’ Council, said Sunday that schools have been shut down in the capital for a week, with some teachers holding public rallies and sit-ins.

According to Fazel, the government has provided no response to the teachers’ demands as the strike entered its seventh day on Sunday.

“All our demands are legitimate and we will not attend classes until we get our rights,” he said, adding, “We are very sad because of our students, but this government has left us no other choice.”

Afghan teachers are poorly paid and often do not receive their salaries for months due to the government’s economic problems.

Afghanistan’s Education Ministry spokesman Kabir Haqmal has said that the country’s officials are holding talks with teacher representatives to settle the issue.

Claiming that some of the demands are unreasonable, the Afghan official has said that the teachers have been asked to return to classes as the negotiations continue.

“For a long time, we have been doing our best to improve conditions for teachers across the country, but it is a process and needs more time,” Haqmal said.

Last year, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani pledged to improve the conditions of the teachers. The president also promised to allocate a piece of land to every teacher within six months.

YH/HSN/HJL