About 300 teachers from Kafr el-Sheikh Governorate assembled in front of the cabinet headquarters yesterday to protest the Governor Ahmed Zaky Abdeen's refusal to meet their demands for new contracts that would pay them 70 piastres more per class. Teachers said that the governor of Kafr el-Sheikh and the undersecretary of the Ministry of Education attempted to force them to sign agreements that would deprive them of exam allowances and bonuses. They rejected these contracts and instead decided to escalate their protests. Protestors repeated slogans calling on Gamal Mubarak, head of the ruling National Democratic Party's powerful Policy Secretariat, to intervene. Several female teachers brought their children with them to emphasize that they will keep protesting until their demands are met. The teachers say that the low pay affects 10,000 families. Protest organizers criticized the governor for making their return to work conditional on signing agreeing that the working term will end 31 May and that salaries will be procured from the province's services fund. The organizers also acknowledged that "the governorate's education department and affiliated bodies will not be responsible for any bonuses or compensations." They were compelled to not to demand exam allowances for the current year. Teachers refused to sign such approvals as a temporary solution because they believed they stand against their right to work, which is protected by law number 1552007. The People's Assembly's education committee, headed by Sherif Omar, decided to submit a memorandum to the assembly speaker asking him to intervene andsolve the problem of the teachers' contracts. The contract dispute puts teachers in many provinces in danger of losing their jobs, although they have been working with contracts for ten years. Members of parliament noted that the government is in breach of the law that mandates the Ministry of Education to appoint contracted teachers once they have fulfilled the conditions required. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
