Schools to shut as teachers strike

TEACHERS go on strike tomorrow in a protest over job cuts and non-replacement of staff.

The SNUipp and FSU unions say up to a third of teachers will join the strike, while the education ministry says 20 per cent. The Unsa and Sgen CFDT unions are not taking part.

Union leaders have attacked plans for 16,000 jobs to be cut in the 2011 budget as 62,000 new pupils are set to arrive in schools in the next Rentrée.

They say the cuts can only “aggravate the social inequalities in school” and called for a new budgeting process and a fresh look at the politics of education.

Education minister Luc Chatel said the education budget had been increased by 1.6 per cent and there had been extra aid for teachers at the beginning of their careers.

Teachers intending to strike must declare their intentions 48 hours in advance and, in Paris, at least 50 schools will be closed and 208 of the 662 schools will offer the legal minimum service to care for pupils.

A national day of action has been called for March 19.

Meanwhile, the unions pointed to the loss of 50,000 teaching jobs over the past three years as part of the explanation for problems with covering for ill or absent teachers.

Newspaper Le Figaro said some children as young as eight had had as many as 18 stand-in teachers covering for absences.

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