Morocco’s contractual teachers decided to extend their strike until April 25. The decision came during a meeting of the National Coordination of Contractual Teachers on Tuesday in Marrakech, holding the Minister of National Education, Vocational Training Higher Education and Scientific Research responsible for the collapse of the agreement, signed by the two sides last Saturday.
In a statement, which Asharq Al-Awsat received a copy of, the National Coordination attacked the statement of Minister of Education Said Amzazi, saying it was “enraging.”
The Coordination noted that the decision to extend the strike is a clear message to the ministry and the government after the minister said the issue of integration into the public office will not be discussed during the next talks with the teachers, stressing “it will never happen.”
The instructors indicated that a large number of the Coordination’s members considered the decision of some regional education directorates a blatant breach of the agreement reached on April 13. They were required to sign the minutes of the resumption of work when reporting to their workplace, and some were also called for the professional qualification exam.
National Coordination of “the Forcibly Contracted Teachers” held the Ministry of Education the full responsibility for the dire situation in the educational system.
The National Council called on members of the National Coordination to “fully abide by the outputs of the National Council,” in order to maintain the unity of the Coordination.
The Council asserted that the educators were ready to compensate the lost school time after the issue was finally resolved.
The Coordination’s recent stance further increased the tension looming over the education sector in the country. It called on the five education unions to a week-long national strike accompanied by a centralized sit-in, starting April 22.
The five unions include the Democratic Labor Confederation’s National Education Union (SNE-CDT), the Democratic Labor Federation’s National Education Union (SNE-FDT), the National Teaching Federation (FNE), the National Federation of Teachers (UNMT) and the Moroccan National Coordination of Teachers Forced into Teaching Contracts (CNPCC).
In their statement, the unions held the government of Saad Eddine El-Othmani and the Education Ministry responsible for the ongoing tension between the two sides.
The unions reiterated their request for the government to meet their demands regarding what it called "the common and collective educational problems that have been underway for years,” within the framework of a real dialogue that leads to concrete results.
