Teachers at secondary school hold strike and protest march
THE Cyprus Turkish Secondary Education Teachers Union (KTOEÖS) went on strike at all state secondary schools and held a demonstration on Monday.
The KTOEÖS took the action over “National Education Minister Nazım Çavuşoğlu’s attitude towards teachers”, while also demanding that the “Draft Teachers (Amendment) Bill” be dropped.
The strike took place between 10am and 1.05pm. Teachers from schools in Lefkoşa and the surrounding area braved the rain to take part in a march from the KTOEÖS offices to Parliament and then to the National Education Ministry.
Black wreaths were hung outside the Education Ministry, while copies of school yearbooks and newspapers containing details of schools’ activities and achievements were left at both Parliament and the National Education Ministry.
Protesters carried placards and banners bearing messages such as “We don’t want a minister who is the enemy of teachers”, “A teacher does not give in” and “We will not remain silent in the face of attacks on society and teachers”.
They also called on Mr Çavuşoğlu to resign, chanting slogans like “A teacher is not a paid slave, we will win by resisting”, “The teachers are here, where is the minister?”, and “Either get rid of this law or get rid of the government”.
Mr Çavuşoğlu, speaking in Parliament after the protest, first offered his thanks for the yearbooks produced by the teachers, and said that he “knows how much devotion” was put into their production.
Mr Çavuşoğlu said that he is “well aware of the work done by teachers” and that he will continue to support them, but will not allow actions and statements made with “crafty behaviour”.
He condemned the allegations against him as “false”, and accused the KTOEÖS of making incorrect statements about the draft law and “not responding positively” to requests for a meeting.
Mr Çavuşoğlu said that he is not an “enemy of teachers” and said that one of the proposed changes to the Teachers Law is to make ongoing training for teachers compulsory.