Mongolia: Strike called by education trade union widely followed
Teachers and education support personnel (ESP) are on strike across the country since October 16th, 2025, urging the government of Mongolia to increase their basic salary to 3.5 million tugriks (around 840 euros) as well as the education budget for 2026.
FMESU working committee coordinates strike actions
The strike was called by the Federation of Mongolian Education and Science Unions (FMESU) to demand better living conditions for educators and greater investment in public education.
At FMESU, a working committee was established to coordinate industrial actions across the country and share real time information with all its members and the public. It is composed of management, legal advisory and technical teams.
The union organizes online training courses to advise members between 9 am and 5 pm and visit schools to help them establish trade union committees.
On October 21st, 2025, FMESU President Zambal met with the minister of Finance B. Javkhlan, the minister of Family, Labor and Social Protection T. Aubakir, and the minister of Education P. Naranbayar to reiterate and discuss further demands for increased education personnel’s salaries.
The government proposed to increase the teacher salary gradually between 2026 and 2028, reaching the needed 3.5 million tugrik by 2028. This means that increasing teacher salary by 15-20 % will result in a 150,000 to 200,000 tugriks (36 to 48 euros) increase only for the teacher basic salary. “In a nutshell, we cannot accept this proposal,” Mr. Zambal highlighted. On October 22nd, 2025, minister of Education Naranbayar submitted a proposal to start collective negotiations.
18,837 teachers and ESP from 83 secondary schools, 215 kindergartens, and 3 schools - 331 education institutions in total - in the countryside joined the Federation of Mongolian Education and Science Unions (FMESU) in the capital city Ulaanbaatar from the beginning of the industrial action. 3,308 teachers and ESP from Orkhon, Sukhbaatar, Khovd, Bulgan, and Tuv provinces also joined the strike. Every two hours, the strike committees count the number of teachers and ESP joining the industrial action as the day progresses.
On October 17th, 2025, 85 secondary schools, 218 kindergartens and 35 secondary schools - 372 education institutions in total - from the provinces joined the strike, representing 22,791 teachers and ESP engaged in the struggle. Teachers and ESP from 10 provinces have also joined the strike, namely in Orkhon, Sukhbaatar, Khovd, Bulgan, Tuv Darkhan, Arkhangai, Dornogobi Gobisumber and Khentii, with 2,919 teachers and ESP from 35 schools and 31 kindergartens.
Since October 20th, 2025, more than 558 education institutions and around 30,000 education personnel joined the strike.
“More and more schools and kindergartens are joining the strike. We will not stop the strike. The proposal by the government has been rejected by the FMESU,” the trade union leader Zambal acknowledged.
Background
The national strike began after several days of peaceful sit-ins by teachers and education support personnel in Ulaanbaatar, drawing national attention and growing solidarity from other sectors, such as the railway sector workers who have joined the protest in solidarity. Backed by the public strong support, FMESU had already voiced educators’ demands at a meeting on October 8th, 2025, with public authorities, urging the government to prioritize investment in teachers and the education sector.
