Primary school teachers throughout Tunisia answered the call of the Syndicat général de l'enseignement de base (SGEB), one of the national affiliates of EI, to hold a successful one-day strike on 16 May with an 85 per cent participation rate. The trade union is fighting to improve the education system and the status of teachers in the country.
It wants quality public education for all, the only way, in its view, to guarantee the development of democracy in Tunisia.
The demands of the SGEB are as follows: revision of the status of teachers, including promotions and a reduction in working hours; the recruitment of contract as well as supply teachers; a review of the pay of school principals and education consultants; an increase in the back-to-school allowance; and participation of teachers in the preparation of programmes through their elected trade union officials.
EI support
EI has expressed its support for the initiative in a letter sent by EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen to the General Secretary of the SGEB, Taher Dhaker.
“It is with a great deal of interest that EI learnt about all the demands that the SGEB set out in its call for a strike on 16 May 2012,” van Leeuwen said. “In the name of its 30 million members, EI provides all its support, without reservation, to the trade unionists of the SGEB who are fighting to improve their education system and the status of teachers in Tunisia.”
The quality of education requires the commitment of an entire nation, Mr van Leeuwen emphasised. “To be successful in its ‘emergence’, Tunisia must invest in its schools and its teachers, men and women who believe in their vocation and are doing their utmost.”
New strike
EI’s Tunisian colleagues, who have still not succeeded in getting the Ministry of Education to engage in dialogue, are continuing their action and have planned a new strike for 30 and 31 May.
EI will monitor the response of the relevant authorities to this tremendous national challenge for Tunisia.
The full letter of support (in French) from the EI General Secretary to the SGEB is available here