Arrest of Several Participants in Iran-Wide Teachers’ Rally
Teachers in Iran staged protest gatherings in front of education departments in various provinces. Reports indicate the arrest of at least two teachers. The professional association of educators announced a “notable presence of plainclothes forces” in Tehran.
Iranian teachers staged protest gatherings on Thursday, Ordibehesht 12 (May 2), coinciding with Teacher’s Day in the Islamic Republic, in different cities. The Coordination Council of Professional Associations of Iranian Educators reported the arrest of several teachers.
The Coordination Council of Professional Associations of Iranian Educators wrote on its Telegram channel that Rasoul Badaghi, inspector of the Professional Association of Tehran Teachers, and Mohammad Fallahi, secretary general of the association, were arrested by security forces on Thursday.
It is reported that the arrested individuals have been transferred to an unknown location. Some media outlets have also reported the arrest of Mojtaba Ghoreyshian, a member of the Professional Association of Teachers.
The Coordination Council’s Telegram channel also stated that “the number of arrested educators is greater than the names announced,” and wrote: “So far, three retired women educators have been released. There is no information about the status of the others.”
This professional association also announced: “In Tehran, the presence of plainclothes forces was notable. While they were photographing the gatherings, they prevented others from taking photographs of the gathering.”
About two weeks ago, the Coordination Council called on active and retired educators to participate in protest gatherings at education department headquarters in various provinces and cities on Teacher’s Day in Iran.
Reports indicate these gatherings took place in front of education departments in various Iranian cities, including Tehran. Teachers and educators chanted slogans including: “My pain is your pain, people, join us.”
Beyond Iran’s capital, Yazd, Hamadan, Mazandaran, Razavi Khorasan, South Khorasan, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Alborz, and Gilan are among other provinces where teachers’ gatherings were held.
Teachers’ protest movements in Iran have seen a notable increase in recent months and years. Besides demands for improving teachers’ legal status and freedom for imprisoned teachers, demands such as effective and comprehensive insurance, school safety, eliminating discrimination in educational structure, stopping privatization and commodification of education, and public access to free education are among the demands of Iranian teachers.
Demands for Improved Livelihood and Freedom of Association
IRNA news agency also confirmed today’s teachers’ gathering “in various provinces” and wrote: “In this gathering, which began at ten in the morning in front of education departments in various cities and provinces, teachers, holding placards, are trying to communicate their demands and grievances to superiors.”
According to the news agency, the most important demands of Iranian teachers are “improving the livelihood of active and retired teachers, abolishing privatization and providing quality free education to all students, implementing salary equalization for retirees, payment of education debts by the government, and freedom of association.”
The Coordination Council of Professional Associations of Iranian Educators also raised the main demands of teachers in a statement, writing: “The salaries of retired and active educators are several times below the poverty line. The government does not pay its debt to educators and is imposing a bankrupt insurance on us.”
The statement also emphasized “removing unlawful obstacles resulting from personal preferences of officials and irresponsible practices in issuing permits for general assemblies for all professional associations of educators, issuing official activity permits for associations that have held general assemblies and elections,” and also “independent association” as another demand of Iranian teachers.
Yesterday, a workers’ gathering in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on the occasion of International Workers’ Day turned violent, and dozens of participants were arrested. It is reported that some teachers also participated in yesterday’s gathering in front of Parliament in solidarity with workers.
In mid-Esfand last year, the third round of nationwide teacher sit-ins was held in various provinces in protest of professional and livelihood problems. Several cultural activists and prominent teachers such as Mohammad Habibi, Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi, and Ismail Abdi still remain imprisoned in Iranian prisons due to their professional activities. Rasoul Badaghi, Abdolreza Ghanbariasl, Mahmoud Bagheri, Nabialah Bastan, and Ali Akbar Baghani are among the teachers who have faced imprisonment or exile in recent years.
Source: DW
