Algerian teachers end long strike; pay talks to resume
2009-11-27
Government officials and labour leaders have signed an agreement to restart negotiations over teachers' salaries and benefits.
By Mouna Sadek for Magharebia in Algiers – 27/11/09
 [Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images] Algerian students are happy to return to classes following a three-week teachers' strike. |
Several independent teachers' unions have ended a three-week strike after agreeing to resume talks with the government over salary and benefits disputes.
On strike since November 8th, the unions were protesting the government's decision to backdate pay raises not from January 2008, as was the unions' demand, but from the date the increases were published in the government's Official Journal.
Labour leaders and the Education Ministry on Tuesday (November 24th) signed an agreement declaring a re-opening of negotiations on retroactive pay rises and the allowance system for public sector workers.
Following the signing, the National Council for Secondary and Technical Education, the National Union for Secondary Education, and the National Union of Training and Teaching Personnel all agreed to end the strike and resume the school year.
Union leader Méziane Mériane expressed satisfaction with both the ministry's commitments and the solidarity showed by teachers during the strike.
"I want to welcome the unity shown by the unions during this strike – something we haven't seen since 2003," he said in a press conference held the day the agreement was signed.
Teachers must now provide catch-up lessons for students, who missed three weeks of classes. A timetable for these additional lessons will be decided on next Sunday at a meeting of head teachers.
"The education minister will personally make sure that these catch-up lessons take place under the best teaching conditions," said education ministry advisor Maklouf Boumâaraf. "There will be no sloppy teaching or cramming. The teachers must accomplish this task without in any way overloading the pupils."
In a press conference on November 20th, Education Minister Boubkeur Benbouzid apologised to students for the interruption in their studies, acknowledging that they "continue to suffer the setbacks of a highly-disrupted education which, if continued, would irreparably compromise their ability to deal with upcoming examinations".
Many students and parents said they were relieved that classes were restarting.
"We’ve been forced to take three weeks off," said Naima, a 17-year-old student at Zineb Oum El Masakine High School in Algiers. "For final-year students like us, it was a catastrophe, because we were afraid that a lengthy strike would have repercussions for our baccalaureate examination."
One mother, a bank employee, said that while she supported the teachers' fight for "due recognition", the three-week strike had been "too long".
"I was afraid that this strike would have consequences for my two children, who go to middle school … They'd hardly started the school year, and then this strike broke out. For them, the school year hasn't really started," she said. The working mother added that she hopes the catch-up plan will reach its goals and allow students to master the material they have missed.
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camélia Posted 2009-11-28
The last paragraph includes the word (terrorism) in Arabic (irhabe)!!! I think it has nothing to do with this article! If it is a mistake, better correct it.
احمد الزبربر Posted 2009-11-29
I hope that teachers and pupils will come back to classes and catch up on what was missed.
HANANE THELAIDJIA Posted 2009-11-29
These teachers who should be concerned about the country, they aren't fit for teaching. They don't care if the nation is spoilt. Let them make it a blank year, without studies.
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