Nationwide Gathering of Active and Retired Teachers in Iran Across Several Cities

Hundreds of active and retired teachers gathered on Thursday, March 10, in front of the Iranian Parliament in Tehran, demanding attention to their professional demands. According to ILNA news agency, simultaneous gatherings were held by active and retired teachers across Iran. One participant in the gathering in front of the Parliament told Radio Farda that at least 500 people participated in the protest on Thursday. The protesters called for the restoration and reform of salaries in line with other government employees, restructuring teachers' insurance, timely payment of retirement bonuses for educators, and the annulment of judicial sentences against teacher union activists. According to this participant, other demands included ensuring free education for children and adolescents and the freedom of Ismail Abdi, the Secretary-General of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association, from prison. Mr. Abdi, who was sentenced to six years in prison on security charges, is currently serving his sentence. "Efficient insurance is our legitimate right," "Equalization of retirees' salaries is our demand," "Determining the status of service personnel in the ranking system," "The teacher's place is in the classroom, not in prison," "Return the embezzled funds from the teachers' savings fund," and "Pay retirement bonuses immediately after retirement" were among the slogans of this gathering. Protesters in Shiraz displayed their discontent over the living conditions of educators by laying out an empty table in front of the Education Department of Fars Province. This marks one of several recent protests by Iranian teachers in recent years. Previously, a letter protesting the next year's budget for the Ministry of Education, with 140,000 signatures, was submitted to representatives of the Education Commission, the Joint Commission, and the Parliamentary Board on March 1. These signatures were collected by the "Fair Budget Campaign for Increasing Teachers' Salaries and Improving Education Quality in Schools." In the final resolution of the gathering of active and retired teachers across Iran, criticism was directed at the policies of previous and current governments and the lack of oversight by the Parliament over the necessary budget and laws. It stated that "mandatory educational guidance, complete privatization of preschool education, selling schools with commercial positions, the unsafety and dilapidation of schools, high student density in each class, reduced hours of counselors in secondary schools, lack of appropriate per capita allocation, violence in schools, and neglecting the needs of students in deprived and marginal areas" are among the policies that have "driven free education into oblivion and made it difficult for everyone." The resolution also noted that "the massive dropout of students and their being pushed towards the streets, sacrificing their childhood, is the result of misguided policies based on the monetization of education, policies that contradict Article 30 of the Constitution." The protesters emphasized that "the life and dignified existence of teachers have faced serious challenges," leading them to take on second and third jobs for survival. According to the report, retired educators also "struggle and suffer through their lives." The resolution further stated that "public participation in the educational system today means paying money in various forms to the government, and this unfortunate approach stems from a view among managers that education lacks output." The authors of the resolution criticized the officials' perspective seeking "profitability in education," stating that "the prevailing view in the Planning and Budget Organization has been shaped on this basis, oblivious to the fact that the foundation of a dynamic and endogenous transformation and development is the appropriate output of human resources through education." In another section of the resolution, there was criticism of the treatment of teacher rights organizations and activists, stating that efforts are being made to silence dissenting voices and prevent the formation of civil institutions. This resolution characterized such actions, namely "creating multiple obstacles to independent and nationwide organization and securitizing the labor space," as stemming from an "authoritarian perspective and approach," asserting that "we consider independent and nationwide organization a legal and fundamental right for the realization of teachers' rights and support existing trade unions that operate based on the principle of independence and professionalism around professional and educational demands." The authors of the resolution also put forth demands, including the restoration and reform of salaries and wages for all teachers and service and administrative personnel (in line with other government employees since the beginning of 2017) and emphasized that salaries should not fall below the poverty line. "Greater oversight and more precise auditing of the teachers' savings fund and the return of embezzled funds and reconsideration of the yield of teachers' investments in this fund, along with public and transparent reporting in a manner that allows for oversight by representatives of teachers over the performance of the savings fund" were other demands of the protesters. The necessary budget allocation for providing and standardizing educational environments according to international standards, converting the status of contractual, substitute, and temporary personnel to permanent, and ensuring job security for them, ensuring job security for preschool educators and educational personnel working in the private sector, annulment of any convictions against teacher rights activists, compensation for damages inflicted upon them, and abandoning the security perspective on professional efforts were other demands raised in the resolution on Thursday. The resolution also emphasized the necessity of "immediate and complete payment of retirement bonuses for retirees right after retirement, aligning the salaries of veteran teachers with other military and civil employees, not eliminating their job ranking, equalizing the salaries of older retirees with those of retirees from 2016, and allocating effective and extensive insurance corresponding to the medical and health needs of all educators." Minister of Education: Teachers' Livelihood and Dignity Must Be Central to Policy-Making The gatherings of active and retired teachers in Tehran and other cities in Iran took place while, according to some news agencies, Fakhruddin Ahmad Danesh Ashteyani, the Minister of Education, stated on Thursday at the fifth congress of the Islamic Teachers' Association that teachers' livelihood and dignity must be at the center of the country's official and executive policymaking and planning. He had previously announced the formation of a working group on teachers' livelihood aimed at improving some welfare and health issues for this group. The Minister of Education, without mentioning the security-judicial actions against teacher rights activists and organizations, referred to them as non-governmental organizations, stating that "any step taken towards stabilizing and enhancing civil institutions is a step towards empowering society and advancing the national development process and comprehensive reforms." Fakhruddin Danesh Ashteyani added that the necessity of improving the situation of teachers and educating children is not limited to the Ministry of Education or even government agencies, stating, "The government, regardless of the extensive capacities of civil institutions and social networks and without the support and guidance of scholars, intellectuals, and media figures, and away from the active participation of teachers and students, cannot take effective steps towards fundamentally improving the education system." This minister's reference was to criticisms regarding the lack of participation of teachers and students in the educational and training process. Mohammad Reza Aref, the head of the Hope Fraction in Parliament, also stated at this congress that "it is our duty to address the livelihood situation of teachers" and added, "The teacher, as a pioneering group, should only have concerns about education, and today we are pursuing demands in an incorrect manner." He did not provide an explanation regarding this "incorrect manner of demands." In this context, the "Fair Budget Campaign" letter with 140,000 signatures was submitted to Parliament, and the Secretary-General of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association was arrested by security forces.