Ei-iE

The Syndicat national de l'enseignement-Fédération démocratique du travail (SNE-FDT) of Morocco, held its 10th Congress from 22-24 February in Marrakech. The congress theme was “All in defence of public education, the teaching profession, trade union rights and democratic freedoms”.

This Congress was held in a climate of unprecedented tension in the education sector between the most representative unions, including the SNE-FDT, and the National Education Minister, Mohamed El Ouafa.

Diversity in delegations and discussions

For three days, nearly 600 delegates discussed issues around preserving public education and ensuring a successful reform of the education system. The participants were notable for their diversity: there were a lot of young congress delegates, and a large number of women.

There was also a large foreign delegation including, Agnès Breda, representing EI; the Chairperson of the Comité syndical francophone de l'Education et de la Formation, Roger Ferrari; Elie Jouen, representing the Global March Against Child Labour, and representatives of the following trade unions: AOb/Netherlands, FETE-UGT/Spain, FECCOO/Spain, UNPEF/Algeria, SGEB/Tunisia, GUPT/Palestine, SNEM/Mauritania, and KTS/Kuwait.

EI: Trade-union unity is essential

Recognising that the Arab region needs strong trade unions to achieve its objectives and that strength comes through unity, Breda, in her address to the Conference, stated: “You have held your Congress on the theme of Unity – the search for trade-union unity to better defend Moroccan education and the teaching profession.  It is an enormous challenge that calls on you to find the necessary strength to meet it, because the situation facing public education has never been more difficult. It is difficult here, in Morocco, it is difficult throughout the region; it is difficult in the South, but it is also very difficult in the North.”

She regretted that public education was at risk, throughout the world, because the austerity plans chosen as a response to the debt crisis meant cuts in public expenditure,, including Education budgets.  Furthermore, stressed Breda, governments are using the economic crisis as a pretext to trample on the trade-union rights of employees. As civil servants, teachers are all too often denied their trade union rights, notably the right to organise and the right to strike.

Government investment in well-trained and well-paid teachers

“Faced with these enormous problems, we say that education should not be affected by the crisis, because it is an integral part of the solution to the crisis,” explained Breda. “We must make every government on the planet understand that investing in quality public education and training is the key to a lasting recovery and a healthier, fairer economy for the future.”

She stressed the fact that investing in education for the long-term development of their country is by far the best response any government could make, but this cannot be done without the mass recruitment of well-paid and well-trained teachers.

“You are fighting for this here, in Morocco, because you are teacher-trade unionists convinced that a country can only build a democratic future with an educated population, with responsible, aware citizens,” she concluded.

Demanding respect for social dialogue

Just a few days before the Congress began, the latest national strike was organised by the trade union confederations, the Confédération démocratique du travail and the FDT. This was in protest against the Ministry’s unprecedented offensive on trade union rights, and its attempts to turn public opinion against the teachers, trying to hold the teaching profession responsible for the failure of the government’s education policies.

The strike was also an opportunity for teachers to express their discontent and concern at the manner in which the National Education Minister ran the affairs of his department and his decision to make deductions from the salaries of the striking teachers. This policy is shaped by the Ministry’s wish to reduce social dialogue to nothing more than a listening exercise and to avoid talking to the most representative trade unions.

The SNE-FDT showed its political will to (re)join forces with the Syndicat national de l'enseignement-CDT. This search for unity is in response to the rise of Islamism in Morocco, which teacher-trade unionists wish to combat.

Dysfunctional system

The participants were unanimous in their view that public education in Morocco is in serious difficulties. Neither the National Education and Training Charter nor the Emergency Plan have been able to resolve these difficulties. The acute lack of human resources, the steady deterioration in schools, overcrowded classrooms, and violence in schools, are all problems affecting public education.

The SNE-FDT has repeatedly called for public education to be protected, by addressing the severe shortage in teaching and administrative staff and by putting an end to class overcrowding, to the poor teaching methods and to the cancellation of groups in scientific subjects.

Click here to read Agnès Breda’s full speech (in French) to the SNE-FDT Congress.