CAIRO- Some 10,000 angry teachers, who set up an independent union, have set September 15 for a symbolic trial for controversial Education Minister Zaki Badr to denounce his decisions, which they claim have harmed their interests. The organisers, led by Ayman el-Beialli, said the independent union members wanted to draw public attention to the problems experienced by the Egyptian teachers as a result of Badr's policies and decisions. "The September 15 mock trial intends to cast a spotlight on the issue of what teachers consider offensive and unjust after these decisions, which deprived them from an annual increment and unsuitable working conditions that caused the death of some colleagues during the thanaweiya amma examinations last month," el-Beialli said. The independent teachers, he continued, had sent a strongly worded letter to Manpower Minister Aisha Abdel-Hadi for refusing to recognise their union. He said that Abdel-Hadi's refusal was a stark violation of Article No. 87 of the unified code for organising and setting up professional unions.
