Teachers' Protest Held in At Least 10 Cities in Iran Despite Government Threats and Promises

The Coordinating Council of Teachers' Trade Unions in Iran reported that teachers held protests in at least 10 cities across Iran and that several teachers and their union activists were temporarily detained on Thursday, May 2. According to this council, despite government pressures and threats against teachers' union activists, protests took place in the cities of Saqqez, Yasuj, Rasht, Harsin, Tehran, Qazvin, Bushehr, Marivan, Aligudarz, and Islamabad-e Gharb. The council also stated that government forces detained several teachers and their union activists, at least in Tehran and Bushehr. Among those detained was Reza Amani Far, a member of the Bushehr Teachers' Trade Union, who was transferred to an unknown location after his arrest. According to the latest reports, Mr. Amani Far was released after several hours. Additionally, Mehdi Ghaderi, Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, Vahid Mousa Dehsari, and Davood Bayesteh were also detained in Tehran but were released after some time. Mr. Farahi Shandiz, a former political prisoner, was released in May 2022 after serving over ten years in prison. The report from the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Trade Unions also indicated a heavy security atmosphere and a significant presence of government forces around the Ministry of Education's building in the city, yet teachers proceeded with their protests. Meanwhile, alongside the protests, a resolution was published stating that teachers are "now more than ever under pressure in achieving rights and justice for themselves and their students." The resolution referred to "rising prices and inflation due to mismanagement, sanctions, corruption, and increasing embezzlement" and stated that these factors "have emptied the people's table and deprived teachers and students of the motivation for education and learning. However, instead of fighting against embezzlers and corrupt individuals, security forces and the judiciary are suppressing and threatening demanding teachers, condemning them to exile, dismissal, early retirement, and imprisonment." The resolution emphasized Article 30 of the Constitution regarding free education, stating that "despite the government's duty to provide free educational means, we are witnessing unnecessary patriarchal changes in textbooks, the denigration of new science under the pretext of secularism, and the increasing dominance of religious sciences over education, which has resulted in nothing but spreading hatred, polarization, and aversion to religion." Among the teachers' demands in the resolution are the "freedom of imprisoned teachers and the removal of dismissal, exile, early retirement, and electronic ankle monitoring sentences for union activists," "free education for all students, especially 930,000 out-of-school students," "elimination of university entrance exam quotas and removal of educational discrimination," and "ensuring safe educational spaces for three million students in these hazardous environments, including in tent and container schools." The resolution also called for "preventing the commodification and privatization of education according to Article 30 and Clause 3 of Article 3 of the Constitution," "eliminating any gender discrimination, masculinizing science, and patriarchal views in textbooks," "full implementation of the equalization of retirees and the execution of several provisions of the Civil Service Management Law regarding supplementary insurance," "payment of arrears from the second half of the year 1399 in the Persian calendar," and "establishing a deserving ranking for all employees and increasing the minimum wage to the poverty line." Before the protests on Thursday, reports indicated that many teachers' union activists were summoned, including in Sanandaj and Tehran in recent days. Among those summoned was Ismail Abdi, a member of the board of directors of the Tehran Teachers' Trade Union, who was recently released after eight years in prison. The Coordinating Council of Teachers' Trade Unions also reported that prior to the protests on Thursday, the Ministry of Education had sent "widespread text messages in various provinces to teachers, threatening them and making false promises" asking them not to participate in these protests. Among the promises from the Ministry of Education was the announcement of a 2 million toman gift on the occasion of Teacher's Day on May 1, which, according to the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Trade Unions, "seems to be a media propaganda by the Ministry of Education's public relations to counter the presence of teachers in the protest and commemorative gathering on May 2."