NABLUS (Ma'an) -- The union of teachers in the West Bank on Monday rejected measures proposed by the PA Ministry of Education to punish teachers for strike action.

The education ministry undersecretary Muhammad Abu Zeid said Sunday that it would apply a special schedule to make up lesson time lost to the strike, with extra lessons on Saturdays until the end of the semester.

Head of the teacher's union in Nablus, Issam Dababseh, told Ma'an: "We consider this decision by the ministry as a punishment to us as teachers and we totally reject to come to school on our day off until the end of this semester."

"We gave the government a chance until April to meet our demands and if they reject, we will continue our strike," added Dababseh.