Half of primary teachers on strike
Half of primary school teachers, and many secondary ones, were on strike yesterday over job cuts
One in two primary school teachers was on strike yesterday, according to the Education Ministry.
More than a fifth of secondary school teachers also joined the strike, as well as some university staff.
Marches took place in a number of major cities – with a total of around 163,000 people taking to the streets according to police, or 220,000 according to unions.
The teachers oppose plans for jobs cuts, through not replacing retirees – 11,200 this year, 13,500 next year. They also disagree with some of the recent changes either already put in place or planned as part of a reform of primary and secondary school, such as the end of school on Saturday morning.
However Education Minister Xavier Darcos (pictured) has insisted planned job cuts will go ahead.
He accused the unions who organised the strikes of resistance to change. He said: “I want to tell those that are striking they should be careful because the world, and France, is moving on faster than their processions.”
Darcos inisisted that it is “not the number of teachers that counts, but the way in which we organise ourselves and the services our teachers provide.” He said strikes were “outdated,” and he attacked the union’s tendency to resort to them “systematically, as soon as there is a problem.” He added: “There have been 33 teachers’ strikes this century - do you know any other professions who have more than four strikes a year?”
However former Socialist Education Minister Jack Lang praised the strikers for “sacrificing a day’s pay to save the School of the Republic,” describing Darcos’ education policy as a “massacre.”
Photo: David Mendiboure - Service photo de Matignon
