Morocco’s National Teachers’ Assembly Continues to Call for Strikes

A week after the government announced that it had reached a deal with five of the most representative teachers’ unions, the National Teachers’ Assembly is calling on teachers to continue to strike.

Rabat – A week after the government announced that it had reached a deal with five of the most representative teachers’ unions, the National Teachers’ Assembly is calling on teachers to continue to strike.

In a statement issued on January 1, the National Teachers’ Assembly called on teachers to take part in a national strike on December 3, 4, and 5. The statement also calls on teachers to take part in a march in the capital Rabat.

The Assembly described a recent agreement between the government and the teachers’ unions as “disgraceful,” adding that the centralized union practices “persisted in belittling the teaching mission and undermining the morale of its staff, casting doubts on their national roles, aiming to turn public education into a factory of subservience and superficiality.”

The agreement, which was signed on December 27, includes a wide range of provisions aiming to improve working conditions for professionals within the public education sector.

The Assembly criticized the unions for “rushing to sign the agreement with the government,” saying that the agreement aims to “cover up their structural failure in institutional defense of the teaching staff and support personnel.”

“They have shifted their discourse to peddle disillusioning fallacies and imaginary gains promised in what quickly revealed itself to be a shameful reality, as arbitrary deductions continue from the meager wages of the strikers,” the statement reads.

This strike call is the latest in a series of strikes that began in October 2023. The continuous strikes are prompting many to worry about the prospect of a wasted school year, which will disproportionately affect public school students, as private school teachers are not taking part in the strike.

Initial estimates indicate that 30% of public school teachers were taking part in the strike. However, it’s unclear how many will continue to strike as the government has already announced a two-tranche salary raise in addition to the provisions of the December 27 deal.