Teachers in Sulaymaniyah didn’t attend the classes today to protest delayed payments and salary cuts on Sunday.

According to NRT TV, teachers said that they would not return to classes until they get their wages in full.

A committee from the Iraqi government arrived in Erbil, on January 22, to audit the payroll lists of the Ministry of Education to arrange payment of the salaries.

Salaries for KRG employees continue to be delayed, as they have been for months, as the government struggles to pay the close to 1.2 million people on its monthly payroll.

In February 2016, senior KRG officials cut government employee salaries by 15 to 75 percent, depending on position and salary bracket, as part of austerity measures to deal with the ongoing economic crisis.