close button
Switch to Iranwire Light?
It looks like you’re having trouble loading the content on this page. Switch to Iranwire Light instead.
Teachers' Rights

Furious Teachers Hold Fourth Rallies Over Fair Pay and Jailed Colleagues

January 13, 2022
OstanWire
2 min read
Furious Teachers Hold Fourth Rallies Over Fair Pay and Jailed Colleagues

Teachers in Iran took part in fresh nationwide gatherings on Thursday to reiterate their demand for the equalization of salaries, as well as the release of imprisoned educators.

Large crowds gathered in major cities. Teachers in Tehran protested in front of the parliament building, chanting “Stand up teachers, end discrimination", "The pen is mightier than the gun” and “Implement the ranking system without deceit”.

The “ranking system” refers to a bill first proposed in 2015 that would have seen teachers of all levels receive a wage increase commensurate with their experience.

Iranian MPs had also agreed that schoolteachers should be paid the same amount as university teachers with equivalent qualifications. Both of these fair pay provisions were scrapped in Ebrahim Raisi’s budget bill for 2022-23.

Educators in Iran also have concerns about job security and the “temporary” contracting-out of government employees. There have also been allegations of missing pension funds. Many participants in the rallies have been arrested and threatened by security forces, or even hit with security-related charges.

Iran’s Educational Trade Unions Coordination Council issued a call for a fourth round of public rallies on its website following the three mass protests staged in December.

It stated: "This council warns those in power that no excuses, be they ‘sanctions’, ‘endangering national security’, ‘creating grounds for abuse by foreigners and enemies’, or other pretexts will be acceptable. The hands of the looters and violators of the nation’s rights are completely exposed to society, and especially its educators."

Related coverage:

Tens of Thousands Join Teachers' Strikes in Iran

'Teachers Shout Out, Demand Your Rights': Protests Erupt Across Iran

Two Arrested at Nationwide Protests Calling for Better Education

Groundhog Day as Iran's New Education Minister Unveils his Manifesto

One Third of School Pupils are Illiterate and Lack Basic Maths

Teachers' Union Condemns Violence Against Protesting Students

Omicron Fears as Covid-19 on the Rise in Iranian Schools

Fresh Crackdown on Union Activists

comments

Iran

Two Men Executed in Iran Over 2018 Gas Station Fire

January 13, 2022
OstanWire
1 min read
Two Men Executed in Iran Over 2018 Gas Station Fire