School students begin their new academic year amid a strike by teachers, reports Reem Leila After an almost four-month summer holiday, 19 million students will return to the country's 46,000 schools on 15 September. This academic year, however, comes with a teachers' strike. Accordingly, confusion is rife among parents who fear a year of instability. Education has become a national security issue and tops the country's agenda. Just a few days before the start of the new academic year, President Mohamed Mursi agreed to approve a teachers' cadre law following a two-hour meeting with Minister of Education Ibrahim Ghoneim. According to Ghoneim, Mursi agreed to apply the law starting this month, in addition to promoting 20,000 teachers. "The remaining demands of teachers are still under review. The government cannot meet all of their demands since they will cost the state's budget more than LE10 billion. This is impossible at this time due to the deficit in the country's general budget," said Ghoneim. Teachers are demanding an increase in their salaries to LE4,000 instead of the current LE500, the 200 per cent reward incentives they were promised, in addition to the cancellation of the cadre proficiency exams in which teachers themselves are to be tested. According to Rasha Ahmed, one teacher on strike, "since we began our protest, officials have been very evasive with us. Promises, promises without any fulfillment are all what we get," complained Ahmed. The Teachers Independent Union (TIU) is urging Egypt's one million teachers to continue their strike, which entered its fourth day, to pressure the education minister to meet their demands. Ayman El-Beyali, the official TIU spokesman, said Mursi did not approve the cadre system. "All what he did is agree to double teachers' salaries starting next January. This is not enough. The newly appointed teacher who is paid LE108 will receive only LE216. Nobody can live on such a small amount. It's not enough to feed a cat, let alone an entire family," El-Beyali said. "The status of teachers should be improved. Their demands have to be met or they won't be able to work properly in school and will depend on private lessons," El-Beyali said. Teachers have not yet decided whether they will continue their strike. Some say they are determined to stage a sit-in in front of the Cabinet's headquarters downtown "until all their demands are met", El-Beyali added. In a press conference, Ghoneim said that freedom of expression "is every citizen's right but without harming the welfare of others." Accordingly, holidays are prohibited during the first month of the new academic year. Teachers who will not attend school for no valid reason will be referred to an internal investigation, and a certain percentage of his of her salary will be deducted. Abdel-Nasser Ismail, deputy of TIU, rejected the raises. "More than 170,000 part-time teachers won't benefit from these increases because they are allocated for only officially appointed teachers, which is unfair," said Ismail. The new academic year for public schools will end on 6 June 2013. Mid-year exams will begin at the end of December. The mid-year holiday will begin on 19 January and end 31 January. The second semester will start on 1 February and end 6 June. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Education, the ministry has set up an additional 223 classes this year in schools across the country. This will provide a better opportunity for children to enter school, thus decreasing their number in classes while providing more job opportunities for teachers. With the advent of the new year, parents are anxious. "We are all worried," Rabab El-Moqadem, a mother of three, said, responding to reports about the recent teachers' strike. "Every year we have a reason to worry about our children. Last year, it was the revolution, the year before was swine flu, and the one before that was bird flu. Until when will we keep worrying about our children and their future? We don't know what will happen. This year, will teachers enter classrooms?" Deputy Education Minister Reda Mosaad, stated that parents' fears were groundless. "The ministry will take very strict measures against any teacher on strike. Negotiations with leaders of the teachers union are still ongoing, however, I guarantee the stability of the current academic year," said Mosaad. In the end, the number of teachers on strike is not more than a few hundreds. "This weak percentage can never affect the educational process. Soon the strike will come to an end," he said. According to Mosaad, the minister of education has held several meetings with the minister of finance to solve the problem. According to Mosaad, teachers do not have the right to strike for the time being, after a minimum level of wages were increased in July, in which all the ministry's teachers and employees benefited. "Additional raises are not expected until the beginning of the new fiscal year. However, there could be incentives paid to teachers which will be taken from the ministry's current budget," Mosaad added.
