On Thursday, May 10th, at least 32 Iranian cities were the scene of rally by teachers and educators protesting very low salaries, difficult livelihood and deprivation of minimum job benefits including efficient health insurance, and lack of job security and disregard for their demands. The working and retired teachers and educators called for release of imprisoned teachers and other political prisoners and demanded better salaries above the poverty line and better standards of living.
The protest gatherings were held either in front of the General Directorate of Education in different cities of the country or the parliament in Tehran, Arak, Qazvin, Zanjan, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Homayoun Shahr, Shiraz, Mamasani, Shahreza, Shahrekord, Mashhad, Bojnourd, Birjand, Kazeroun, Saghez, Baneh, Sanandaj, Dehgolan, Marivan, Mahabad, Ghorveh, Ziviah, Divandareh, Tabriz, Rasht, Sari, Khoram Abad, Behbahan, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr and Hameda.
In Tehran, the gathering was held in front of the parliament and the regime’s Planning and Budget Organization. They chanted slogans such as: Efficient insurance is our absolute right; imprisoned teachers should be freed. The teachers carried placards which read: Teachers, Workers, Students, United; Salary above the poverty line is the right of teachers; Bread, Labor, Freedom, Educational Justice; Access to quality, free and fair education is the right of all children. Repressive forces attacked the rally to disperse them. People confronted them by chanting: Our cries are because of all this injustice. In the attack, dozens were arrested and a number were injured. The eye of a female teacher was torn due to the severity of the blows. In order to prevent the spread of the news of this protest gathering, the mercenaries beat up the people and seized their mobile phones.
In Kazeroon, the teachers gathered and chanted: Teacher dies, but does not accept discrimination; Imprisoned teachers must be freed. One of the placards read: The teacher’s place is in the classroom, not in prison.
In Sari, the teachers staged their gathering while chanting: “Free Imprisoned Teachers” and “Salaries above poverty line is the right of teachers and retirees;” and “Standard schools are the right of students and teachers”.
In Mamasani, the educators carried placards which read: The teacher’s place is in a classroom, not in a travel agency.
In Hamedan, the teachers carried a placard which read: “The enemies of teachers are the enemies of this homeland.”
In Isfahan, the teachers chanted: The teacher is awake and hates discrimination and poverty; our salaries are paid in Rial, while the costs are in Dollar; we don’t want incompetent minister. They carried placards which read: We demand that all forms of discrimination (ethnic, gender, religious, class) be eliminated from the structure of the educational system of the country; Independent and free form of organization is our right. They also called for free, high-quality and fair education.
In Marivan, teachers, in the placard they carried, condemned the suppression of teachers’ gatherings in Tehran.
In Mashhad, the educators carried placards which read: Stop privatization of education. They demanded free education up to the end of high school and development of higher education in the country.
In Kermanshah, the protesters carried placards, which read: Independent organization is our absolute right. They called inattention to education as the cause of poverty, injustice, discrimination and embezzlement.
In Shiraz, referring to the difficult livelihood of educators and the horrific situation of education, the speakers pointed out the thefts by the government officials.
In Bushehr, teachers staged a symbolic funeral ceremony for destruction of the education in the country.
In Khorramabad, the placards read: Efficient insurance is the teacher’s right.
In Bojnourd, the agents of the repressive forces surrounded the gathering to prevent taking any photo or video from the gathering.
While saluting the working and retired teachers and educators, the Iranian Resistances calls on all the people, especially the youth, to show their solidarity with the educators who are deprived of their most basic rights and live in a very difficult situation. The unity of all oppressed walks of society guarantees Iran’s liberation from the misery of the mullahs’ regime and the establishment of democracy and freedom and well-being for all the people of Iran.
Teachers Protest in Kermanshah:
Teachers Protest in Shiraz:
Teachers Protest in Mashhad:
Teachers Protest in Qazvin:
Teachers Protest in Kazeroun:
Teachers Protest in Isfahan: