Teachers Hold Protest Rallies in Kermanshah and Ardabil
A large number of educators from Kermanshah held a protest rally. They chanted slogans such as “The government betrays, the parliament supports” and demanded improvements to their living conditions. Reports have also emerged of similar gatherings in Ardabil and Yazd.
The publication of reports, images, and videos on the internet and social media indicates a teachers’ protest movement on Thursday, December 20 (January 10) in several Iranian cities.
Among them, a large number of active and retired teachers from Kermanshah held a protest rally today in front of the province’s education office. The reason for their gathering has been attributed specifically to not receiving two months of salary and officials’ neglect of their demands.
Participants in this rally expressed their protest over their dire living conditions through slogans such as “The government betrays, the parliament supports” and “Reduce embezzlement by one, and our problem will be solved.” They also held placards demanding “free education for all students,” “freedom for imprisoned teachers,” and “school reconstruction and safety.” It is said that the teachers’ rally followed a previous call.
The ILNA news agency reported that protesting teachers in Kermanshah “seek effective supplementary insurance, implementation of pension equalization, and improvement in living standards.”
According to the news agency, participants in the Kermanshah rally believe that “the 1398 budget was prepared without considering wage earners’ demands and requires fundamental review.” They also “consider the equalization budget insufficient and say it should be corrected.”
Retired educators’ wage demands were also cited as one of the reasons for the protests, and it is reported that some retired educators have been waiting to receive their outstanding payments for an extended period.
Today, a number of teachers and educators from Ardabil also rallied in solidarity with their colleagues, protesting low wages and unaddressed demands in front of the city’s education office. Some reports indicate that a number of students participated in this rally.
Meanwhile, reports have also been released about Yazd educators gathering in protest against low wages and dire living conditions.
Iranian cities have witnessed widespread teacher protests in recent weeks regarding employment conditions and living standards. Among them, on the sixth of Dey last month, Isfahan teachers held a protest rally in front of the province’s education office. However, security forces dispersed the gatherers by tear gas and arrested several of them. On December 10, the cities of Isfahan, Rasht, Yazd, and Abhar witnessed protest rallies by teachers and retired educators demanding improved living conditions and freedom for imprisoned teachers.
During the second round of Iranian teachers’ sit-in on the 22nd and 23rd of Mehr, a large number of them joined the strike in many small and large cities across Iran. This two-day sit-in was accompanied by slogans against “oppression and injustice.” While the Iranian teachers’ demands in this sit-in were met with promises of attention from government officials, it also involved confrontations with professional gatherings and arrests of their activists. Following this sit-in, Mohammad Reza Ramezanzadeh, head of the coordinating council of Iranian educators’ professional associations, was arrested in Bojnord. Then on the first of November, it was announced that this professional activist was released from prison on a bail of one hundred million tomans.
Concurrently with the news of Mr. Ramezanzadeh’s release, Hashem Khavasteh, a member of the board of directors of the Teachers’ Professional Association in Mashhad, was arrested by Sepah Intelligence officers around Mashhad. After a period of no news, Mr. Khavasteh’s relatives learned that the Sepah Intelligence had transferred this 65-year-old retired teacher to the psychiatric ward of Ibn Sina Hospital in Mashhad for unknown reasons. This was despite the fact that Hashem Khavasteh had no history of mental illness. News of this professional activist’s release was also published on November 20.
Teachers’ protest movements have significantly increased in recent months and years. Beyond demands for improved wage conditions and freedom for imprisoned teachers, demands such as effective and comprehensive insurance, school safety, elimination of discrimination in the educational structure, halting the privatization and monetization of education, and public access to free education are among the demands of Iranian teachers.
Several cultural activists and prominent figures among Iranian teachers, such as Mohammad Habibi, Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi, and Ismail Abdi, have faced prison sentences due to their professional activities and are serving time in prison.
Source: DW
