By Asmaa Bahadi
Rabat – The ten thousand teachers included in the government’s Teacher Trainee program decided to start a hunger strike on the day of the Eid al-Adha festival, in front of the Parliament in Mohammed V Avenue in Rabat.
Mohammad Samadi, the national coordinator of the teachers, said that the teachers plan a strike escalation against the government, in order to open a dialogue and try to find equitable solutions.
A sit-in protest is expected to be held on Monday, September 5, by the teachers in front of the parliament to gain their attention.
The coordinator of the ten thousand teacher governmental program announced its protesting agenda for the month of September, and confirmed that they will continue their plan to sit-in in front of parliament until Friday, September 9, and the teachers will start a hunger-strike the day of Eid al-Adha.
The coordinator organized a national march against the government in Tangier on August 14, in which the teachers burned their diplomas to protest against the government’s failure to fulfill its promises regarding the integrating of the labor market.
The teachers added that “once the first class graduated in 2014, the teachers found themselves vulnerable to the unemployment, that led us to contact the governmental organizations and bodies responsible for this project, but in vain, and yet we stood in the street for more than four months protesting for integration.”
In addition, the teachers won’t give up on their strategic vision of 2015-2030 related to the education sector, which is currently witnessing “catastrophic” circumstances.
On the other hand, Fatima Wahmi, in charge of communication and partnership in the ministry of national education, said that “governmental agreement enters into the framework of implementing the requirements of 8 May 2007 agreement, signed by the government and the representatives of the private education institutions. In accordance with the agreement, the government has been committed to training 10 thousand cadres for this type of education (private) in order to improve its quality.”
According to Wahmi, integration does not necessarily mean the allocation of posts in public education and training.
In November 2013, the Prime Minister, Abdelilah Benkirane, presided at a meeting, during which the framework agreement was signed by the Minister of Economy and Finance, as well as the Minister of Higher Education, scientific research and Professional Training and the heads of the universities, to put the ten thousand teacher training program into execution by 2016. The government mobilized this project with 161 million dirhams during 2013-2016, which includes a financial aid of 1,000 dirhams for every teacher to help them in their full-time training.
