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Rabat – The National Federation for Education (FNE), a teachers’ union in Morocco, is calling for extending the ongoing teacher’s strike for three days next week.
In a statement, the FNE called on teachers to join a “national strike on November 7, 8, and 9, 2023, accompanied by a national march in Rabat, starting from Parliament at 11:00 AM and culminating in a partial sit-in in front of the Ministry on Tuesday, November 7, 2023.”
The start of school years in Morocco has been marred with teachers’ strikes that had crippled national education. Teachers are protesting a new reform, known as the New Mandate from the education ministry that they say overloads them with work without offering proper compensation.
Last week, the Minister of Education Chakib Benmoussa said during his House of Representatives presentation that the mandate “does not cover raising salaries,” emphasizing that the issue should be discussed separately outside of the framework of the new reform.
“The school, as a space for learning, should have its staff working as a team towards the set objectives,” Benmoussa added, stressing: “We provide the means, we are the team, and we motivate it, and we haven’t asked anyone to do more than what they are currently doing.”
The Ministry of Education estimated that no less than 90,000 teachers, representing 30% of the total workforce in the education sector, are currently on strike.
In an attempt to curb the rising tide of protests and its effect on education, the Ministry of National Education has decided to deduct salaries from teachers who are currently on strike.
The decision has sparked outrage among the unions, who see it as a violation of workers’ right to go on strike.
Read also: Moroccan Teachers Protest in Droves on International Teacher Day
