More than 60 professors and staff members at the National Institute of Business in Phnom Penh went on strike yesterday over bonuses and “irregularities” in the school’s management.

Professor Nop Sothea, vice president of the school’s communications department and an English instructor, said the strike was over benefits and money promised by the administration that were never delivered.

“We [demand] a review of the irregularities of the administration, the non-transparent division of jobs and nepotism,” he said. “We submitted a letter to the Ministry of Labour to propose a settlement half a month ago, but no specific solutions [were reached].”

Ly Sothea, the school’s director, said that student dropouts led to the financial dispute, since the teachers are paid based on a percentage of the student fees. “I have promised to solve the problem for them – I don’t know why they have set up a protest and called journalists,” he said, adding that he had offered to pay them half of the promised bonus.