Resorting to Issuing Threatening Circulars to Prevent Continuation of Teachers’ Gatherings
Mohammad Habibi, spokesman for the Iranian Teachers’ Professional Association, reported the issuance of circulars by the Ministry of Education aimed at “creating fear” among teachers and preventing them from participating in protest gatherings.
Mr. Habibi shared images of two Ministry of Education circulars on his Twitter account.
He criticized the fact that Ministry of Education officials are attempting to create “terror and fear” among teachers instead of “responding to teachers’ legitimate demands.”
In one of these documents, the Director of Education in Zarrindasht, Fars Province, explicitly requested that all education managers in the county “convince” teachers that “participation in gatherings and sit-ins inside and outside schools is prohibited,” and that any teacher engaging in such action would be referred to the administrative violations committee of the Ministry of Education.
In the circular from the Director of Education District One in Khorramabad, whose image was attached to Mohammad Habibi’s tweet, it stated that “foreign media” have “lined up” to “target” the teachers’ ranking bill.
He instructed all education managers in his district to be “vigilant,” maintain “complete oversight” of their subordinate personnel, and “persuade” their colleagues to refrain from gatherings and sit-ins.
The circular also requested that education managers report any deviation from these orders “as soon as possible” to the security department and held managers responsible for any “negligence in notification” in this regard.
In recent months, Iranian teachers throughout the country have organized gatherings demanding attention to their demands. In some of these gatherings, students have also joined teachers.
The main axes of teachers’ protests are “non-implementation of pension equalization for retirees,” “incomplete implementation of ranking,” “incomplete implementation of Article 30 of the Constitution,” and “detention of teachers and legal proceedings against union activists.”
Concurrently with the expansion of protests and professional gatherings, security and judicial actions against teachers, workers, retirees, wage earners, and union activists have intensified.
These actions against teachers are taking place amid reports of teacher suicides due to financial hardship in some Iranian cities.
Source: Radio Farda
