CAIRO: More than 50 teachers' groups are planning mass protests in front of the Cabinet on Sept. 10 and are threatening to escalate the matter into a strike on Sept. 17 if demands are not met. The groups and movements are demanding the dismissal of Minister of Education Ahmed Gamal Al-Din Moussa, a minimum wage of LE 3,000 and the promised 200 percent reward incentive without cuts. Teachers said if demands are not met, they will launch a general strike with the start of the academic year on Sept. 17. "It will be a remarkable day in the history of Egyptian teachers. The minister is betting on the failure of the protests but we will unite to achieve our demands," said Ayman Al-Byaly, secretary general of the Independent Teachers' Syndicate. Demands also include issuing legislation criminalizing private tutoring, cancelling the "insulting" teacher cadre, permanently appointing all teachers currently on temporary contracts, appointing all graduates of the faculties of education within a determined timeframe and participating in the development of the education system. "The minister is from the remnants of the ousted regime and has no real intention to implement radical change after the revolution," Al-Byaly said. He said the minister has kept corrupt leaders in their posts at the ministry and allowed the head of the security administration to continue acting as an "intelligence officer" targeting activist teachers. Teachers have been protesting in front of the ministry throughout August. Negotiations with the minister failed to reach a compromise leading teachers to announce mass protests on Sept. 10. The ministry had decided to finance a 200 percent reward incentive promised to all government employees from the budget allocated to exams' incentives and the teachers' cadre. The latter entails taking proficiency exams. The teachers want to get all promised incentives and are also demanding raising the retirement incentive. The Cabinet and Ministry of Finance had decided against paying the 200 percent reward incentive to teachers in full and stipulated the reward as following: 75 percent to assistant teachers, 50 percent for teachers and 25 percent for expert teachers. Moussa said that he will hold a press conference on Monday to explain the ministry's efforts in convincing the Cabinet and the Ministry of Finance to pay the complete reward incentive. "There are 1.6 million teachers, I expect that only those who called for the strike will participate in it and it will fail," he said in previous press statements. CAIRO: More than 50 teachers' groups are planning mass protests in front of the Cabinet on Sept. 10 and are threatening to escalate the matter into a strike on Sept. 17 if demands are not met. The groups and movements are demanding the dismissal of Minister of Education Ahmed Gamal Al-Din Moussa, a minimum wage of LE 3,000 and the promised 200 percent reward incentive without cuts. Teachers said if demands are not met, they will launch a general strike with the start of the academic year on Sept. 17. "It will be a remarkable day in the history of Egyptian teachers. The minister is betting on the failure of the protests but we will unite to achieve our demands," said Ayman Al-Byaly, secretary general of the Independent Teachers' Syndicate. Demands also include issuing legislation criminalizing private tutoring, cancelling the "insulting" teacher cadre, permanently appointing all teachers currently on temporary contracts, appointing all graduates of the faculties of education within a determined timeframe and participating in the development of the education system. "The minister is from the remnants of the ousted regime and has no real intention to implement radical change after the revolution," Al-Byaly said. He said the minister has kept corrupt leaders in their posts at the ministry and allowed the head of the security administration to continue acting as an "intelligence officer" targeting activist teachers. Teachers have been protesting in front of the ministry throughout August. Negotiations with the minister failed to reach a compromise leading teachers to announce mass protests on Sept. 10. The ministry had decided to finance a 200 percent reward incentive promised to all government employees from the budget allocated to exams' incentives and the teachers' cadre. The latter entails taking proficiency exams. The teachers want to get all promised incentives and are also demanding raising the retirement incentive. The Cabinet and Ministry of Finance had decided against paying the 200 percent reward incentive to teachers in full and stipulated the reward as following: 75 percent to assistant teachers, 50 percent for teachers and 25 percent for expert teachers. Moussa said that he will hold a press conference on Monday to explain the ministry's efforts in convincing the Cabinet and the Ministry of Finance to pay the complete reward incentive. "There are 1.6 million teachers, I expect that only those who called for the strike will participate in it and it will fail," he said in previous press statements.
