CAIRO: Teachers continued their nation-wide strike for the third consecutive day on Monday as more joined to challenge claims by the Ministry of Education about the size of the strike. “After the minister of education said that only 2.6 percent of all schools in Egypt have been hit by the teachers' strike, more of us decided to prove to him that more than 80 percent of the country's teachers are protesting. We will continue to escalate … until our demands are met,” said Ahmed Saied, a science teacher in the Mostafa Kamel Primary School in El-Warraq. According to Shaimaa Saied, the coordinator of the strike operations room, the strikes swept Egypt's 27 governorates on different stages. “There is definitely a rise in the number of schools striking today, for instance, more than 65 percent of Kafr El-Sheikh's schools are on a complete strike,” she told Daily News Egypt, noting that other schools are on partial strike. When contacted by Daily News Egypt, an official at the ministry of education said the governors, not the ministry, have the authority to address the teachers' demands. “I can't understand. They are just sending us to the governorates; aren't we teachers who should be under this ministry's authority? They are just buying time,” said Hala Talaat, a member of the independent teachers union. According to Talaat, the governors said that they could meet two representatives of each protesting school to discuss demands that include the dismissal of Education Minister Ahmed Gamal El-Din Moussa, a minimum wage of LE 3,000, the promised 200 percent reward incentive without cuts, and terminating the cadre proficiency exams. Strike on the rise Teachers said Monday saw an increase in strikers across the country compared to the previous days. Around 143 schools were on complete strike in South Sinai. Strike organizers said that more than 50 percent of the schools in Cairo and Giza have joined. They claimed 100 percent participation in the strike in the governorates of Beni-Sueif, Menufia and Sohag. Eyewitnesses said that they have seen police vehicles stationed near some schools. Shaimaa Saied said the administrations of some schools, specifically in the governorate of Gharbiya, threatened striking teachers with imprisonment, but maintained that no clashes with the police were reported. “But they are teachers so they cannot be prosecuted under the penal code [in that case]. Instead [their actions are regulated] by the administrative law which gives them the right to protest,” argued Shaimaa Saied. The Independent Teachers' Union has stated, in a pamphlet that was distributed in different governorates, that it called the strike not only for economic gain but to improve conditions for students. The union also said that the first and foremost demand is to dismiss the minister of education and all his advisors, in addition to ending the corruption in the ministry. According Radi Salem, a teacher at the El-Warraq Secondary School for Girls, a group of teachers will meet the governor at 6 pm on Monday to discuss their demands. A march to the Cabinet headquarters is planned this Saturday. However, unlike the case in other governorates, Mohamed Ahmed Emara, the teachers' representative in the independent union in South Sinai, said that their demands are on the way to be met following a meeting with governor Khalid Fouda. Some teachers blamed leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose members have recently won a landslide victory in the syndicate elections, for the current situation. “They say that they would negotiate with the prime minister rather than confront him,” said Ahmed Saied, who claimed that the minister of education allowed the Brotherhood to take over the syndicate. Minister's response in the media The minister told state TV Sunday evening that the teachers' demands were legitimate, but that the current economic and political situation does not allow for meeting these demands. “Some teachers demanded a minimum wage of LE 3,000; a teacher is worth more than that,” he said, noting the national budget limitations that stand in the way. The Ministry of Finance, he added, can't make such funds possible. However, ''we strive to achieve this in the future”. Moussa said that those calling for his dismissal have the right to do so, explaining that this is democracy and that this does not bother him because he is performing a national duty. –Additional reporting by Yehia Nassar in South Sinai.
