More than 500 female teachers rally to protest five months

According to Jahan News, more than 500 female teachers who work in hard-to-reach, remote, and impoverished areas of the Tehran province held a rally [yesterday] to protest five months of back wages.

Those who are part of the literacy campaign and who work in impoverished areas like the Boomehen and Roodehen villages and other hard-to-reach areas of the Tehran province, protested against not receiving their wages for the past five months and the lack of benefits and services like insurance, annual bonuses, and seniority raises.

The teachers have only received two paychecks since September 2010. Some of the women told Jahan News that they have been threatened with dismissal by specific sections of the Ministry of Education, should any protests be held.

One of the teachers who wished to remain anonymous said, “Certain departments affiliated with the Ministry of Education have contacted the principal of the school and asked [him/her] to name the protesters for disciplinary action and dismissal purposes.”

The teacher added that most of the women who have not received their paychecks and who are in bad financial states, are members of a literacy campaign designed to serve the underprivileged [locations in the city]. She said, “Working in these regions is so difficult that most of the teachers refuse to go.”

The departments with ties to the Ministry of Education often use terms like “rioters” and “disruptive” to describe the women who call for the [recognition of their] rights.

Is it socially just that a female teacher working in one of the most difficult jobs and in some of the most difficult conditions is called a rioter after protesting five months of back wages? Is the Minister of Education aware of this issue? Wouldn’t he protest if he himself did not receive his paychecks for five months?

Translation Siavosh Jalili, Persian2English