Public and private sectors of education are uniting today in a strike against the “degradation” of schools. The unions are striking against the draft for the 2012 budget that will eliminate 14,000 positions nationally. This means from 2007 to 2012, there will be a combined total of 80,000 positions eliminated.
It is estimated that 20.5% to 54% of primary school teachers will go on strike today. There will be 100 events throughout the country and a parade in Paris at 2:30pm. They expect at least 90 schools in Paris alone to be closed. It is not uncommon for teachers to go on strike in late September, but what makes this strike unique is that the private sector is joining in.
Within the proposed draft, it shows that the drop of positions will mostly occur in disadvantaged schools. So far, elementary schools have lost nearly 9,000 jobs out of 16,000 at the beginning of this school year. Middle and high schools have also seen a loss of positions for classes that are not considered necessary, such as arts and music.
Teachers are upset since the reduction of the education budget has resulted in overcrowded classrooms, loss of substitute teacher, low wages and reduced teacher training. They are also not able to provide students with adequate personal time and often do not have substitutes to take over when a teacher needs to take time off.
Quoting from the lemonde.fr:
” ‘… le gouvernement a renoncé à la réussite de tous les jeunes’. L’école de la République ‘relève plus du tri sélectif que de l’ascenseur social’, dénonce Christian Chevalier, du SE-UNSA.”
(English Translation: “ ‘… the government has given up on the success of young people.’ Schools of the Republic ‘are more selective to those in the social elevator,’ denounced Christian Chevalier of the SE-UNSA”)
Seems like a reason to strike for me! I wish the teachers the best of luck in getting their voices heard.
Image Credit: Simone van den Berg on Fotolia.com
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