Minister Shafeeu: Activities of Iskandhar Union Workers will be halted; no opportunity to operate using school names

Minister of Education, Higher Education and Skills Development Dr. Ismail Shafeeu has stated that the formation of unions using the names of individual schools will not be permitted.

During Wednesday's parliamentary session, Mauroof Zakir, the Member of Parliament for the Kendhoo constituency, questioned the Minister regarding the legal basis for Iskandhar School's decision to block union activities. The MP inquired under which law the school's principal had informed union officials that the 'Iskandhar Workers Union' would not be recognized and that all union-related activities were prohibited within the school premises.

Responding to the question, the Minister stated that the union's use of Iskandhar School's name is a serious issue and a violation of regulations. The Minister emphasized that a school's name should not be utilized in such a manner.

The Minister stated that under the regulations governing the registration of unions, organizations are prohibited from using names that belong to state or government institutions, or any names that could lead to such confusion.

Consequently, the Minister stated that the union would be unable to carry out its activities and noted that a formal request would be submitted to the Registrar of Unions to halt its operations.

"We do not believe that such unions can be established using the names of schools like Iskandhar, Majeediyya, Aminiya, or any other educational institution. We do not consider the registration of these entities to be legitimate. We are currently preparing to submit this matter to the Registrar of Unions. The school principal has already taken action. I wish to state that we do not intend to allow the use of specific school names for the creation of such individual organizations."

Minister of Education Dr. Ismail Shafeeu

Despite the Minister's remarks, the regulations governing the registration of unions stipulate that a union is only prohibited from using the name of a state institution.

Furthermore, Member Mauroof noted that while the Minister threatened to halt the union's activities, the Ministry of Homeland Security had previously invited the organization to participate in the May Day rally on May 1, 2024. He pointed out that this demonstrates the state authorities' ongoing recognition of the union's legitimacy to operate under its current name.