Teachers Gather in Around 50 Iranian Cities to Protest Non-Approval of Ranking Plan
Teachers in around 50 Iranian cities gathered on Thursday, November 20, to protest the non-approval of the ranking plan and other occupational demands.
Meanwhile, the Free Union of Iranian Workers reported the arrest and beating of several teachers during today’s protest rally in several cities in Tehran Province.
According to the report, Masoud Farrokh from the Professional Association of Educators in Islamshahr and several other educators have been arrested and transferred to an unknown location.
The nationwide gathering on Thursday took place based on a call from teachers’ professional organizations, and images of teacher gatherings in front of education administration offices in the cities of Hamadan, Tehran, Qazvin, Qom, Pol-Dokhtar, Dorud, Yazd, Bushehr, Sanandaj, Zanjan, Ahvaz, Tabriz, Borujerd, Anzali, Aligudarz, Mamasani, Zarinshahr, Shirvan, Ilam, Genaveh, Marivan, Qom, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Andimeshk, Shiraz, Gorgan, Khorramabad, and Jolfa have been published on social networks.
Most of the slogans raised at these gatherings were related to the necessity of implementing the ranking plan and equalization, as well as the livelihood problems of teachers, including “Livelihood, dignity, and rights are our rightful demands,” “Implement equalization without deception,” “We heard nothing but promises, saw no justice,” “Teachers are awake, tired of discrimination.”
Meanwhile, some teachers in Bushehr, in written statements, called for closing the case of Mohammad Malaki, a member of the Teachers’ Professional Association, and restoring his reputation, and protested against the forced buyout and dismissal of Mohammad Habibizadeh, the spokesperson of this professional association.
Mahmoud Malaki, the education director of Bushehr, was arrested in Farvardin 1400 by Bushehr Intelligence for professional activities.
Mohammad Habibizadeh Khuzani was previously convicted under charges such as “propaganda against the system” and “conspiracy to act against national security” to more than ten years of imprisonment (seven and a half years executable) and was transferred to prison in Ordibehesht 1397, and was released last November.
However, the Appeals Review Board investigating violations by the Ministry of Education in Mehr this year, by sending a letter to the Shahriyar Education Department, with the announcement of a final ruling, voted for forced buyout and dismissal of this teacher from education.
In Kurdish cities as well, including in Sanandaj and Marivan, teachers in written statements considered quality free education as the right of all children and called for education in mother tongue and attention to Article 15 of the Constitution.
In the final resolution of this nationwide gathering issued by the Coordination Council of Teachers’ Professional Organizations, the reason for today’s gathering was stated as a protest against the method of budget distribution and the allocation of a very small percentage of the country’s annual budget share to education.
In this resolution, while criticizing the 14-year delay in implementing the law on the management of civil service for employed and retired education staff, violations of the right to protest, severe security treatment of protesters, long-term imprisonment, beatings, dismissals, exile, and various deprivations of protesters were also criticized.
Active and retired teachers in the past two months have repeatedly gathered in protest of the non-implementation of the teachers’ ranking plan, whose general principles were approved by parliament in Khordad of this year.
If the ranking plan is approved and implemented, the base salary and benefits of teachers will reach at least 80 percent of university faculty members with whom they have the same rank and seniority.
This is while, despite the approval of the general principles of the ranking plan, for about four months, its details have not been reviewed in the open session of parliament.
Source: Radio Farda
