Preschool teachers' protest rally continues in Ahvaz

Following the protest rallies of preschool teachers in Khuzestan province, a rally was held in Ahvaz on Monday, which was attended by teachers from Izeh and other parts of the province. One of the demands of these teachers is employment in education.

Continuing the protests by informal education teachers in Khuzestan Province, on Monday, November 25, a group of preschool teachers from Izeh County held a protest rally in front of the Khuzestan Education Department building and the Khuzestan Governor's Office in Ahvaz.

According to ILNA news agency, the most important demands of these coaches are the payment of insurance premiums and their increase. They are also protesting the precarious status of their employment.

In a recent television interview, Education Minister Mohsen Haji Mirzaei dashed the hopes of these teachers for employment in the education sector.

He said that informal teachers who started their work after 2013 will not be hired.

Haji Mirzaei added: "The law has not created any obligations for people who have collaborated with education in various ways after 2013, and my advice to people who have collaborated with education in these years is to take the relevant exams, meaning if they have a bachelor's degree, they should take the Article 28 exam, and if they have a diploma, they should enter education through Farhangian University."

This is despite the fact that, according to the protesters, teachers who worked in education before 2013 entered the education sector without taking a recruitment exam.

Preschool teachers also have to pay their own insurance premiums. One of the teachers told Khurana News Agency: “This year, the insurance premium has reached over 700,000 tomans, which the teachers pay to the contractor out of their own pockets.”

According to him, preschool teachers have no place in education.

ILNA news agency also quoted another protester as saying: "No one is willing to give us a correct answer. If we are killed in these protest trips on the dangerous roads from Izeh to Ahvaz, what will happen to our families?"

Currently, about 7,000 preschool teachers are working in Khuzestan's public schools.

Widespread protests by teachers and educators

The gathering of preschool teachers in Khuzestan province on November 25 is the second protest by these teachers in recent weeks. In October of this year, these teachers also gathered in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly building in Tehran and demanded employment in education.

The Teachers' Union has repeatedly complained about problems such as "bad economic conditions, corruption resulting from the monopoly of wealth and power, discrimination, and widespread injustice." Retired teachers and educators have repeatedly tried to make their voices heard by gathering in front of the parliament.

One of these sit-ins was held on January 2nd, at the call of the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Unions, who wanted to “slap the authorities” with their solidarity on this day. This call was welcomed by teachers in cities such as Bushehr, Saqqez, Sanandaj, Marivan, Shiraz, Safashar in Fars Province, the Zivyeh region of Kurdistan, Mashhad, and dozens of other cities.

Source: DW