Jordan's Prime Minister Awn al-Khasawneh said Saturday (February 11th) that the government plans to increase teachers' salaries in response to their strike.

He called on teachers to end the strike, which is paralysing the educational sector. Students were not in classrooms during the week.

Al-Khasawneh said the government will increase salaries in phases to reach 100% over three years because of the kingdom's cash-strapped budget, according to Petra, Jordan's state-run news agency.

Al-Khasawneh said the government held talks with teacher committees and considered the meetings to be a positive step toward reaching an agreement.

He said the government believes that teachers' demands are legitimate, but the budget situation does not allow the government to increase salaries all at once. There are an estimated 100,000 teachers in Jordan.