Ei-iE

Public sector primary and secondary education teachers embarked on a three-day strike to obtain better living and working conditions from the Togolese government.

The federations of teacher trade unions sitting on the Permanent Consultation Framework ( Cadre Permanent de Concertation-CPC) and the Coordination of Togolese Teacher Trade Unions ( Coordination Syndicale des Enseignants du Togo-CSET) had called for a strike from 13 to 15 November. Education International (EI) Togolese affiliates, the Fédération Nationale des Syndicats de l’Education du Togo(FENASYET) and the Fédération des Syndicats de l'Education Nationale(FESEN) are members of the trade union confederations that called the strike.

The teachers lamented the fact that the public authorities had not kept the promises they had made or implemented the necessary measures for the school year.

The Minister of the Civil Service, Labour and administrative reforms, Gilbert Bawara, had not hinted at a solution to the teachers' demands, explaining that he saw behind certain demands supporting the strike a sort of “confusion and amalgamation between activism and trade union and political actions”.

Consequently, the teaching staff decided to step up their efforts in order to succeed.

The three-day strike was aimed at obtaining “a copy of the specific status handed to the head of the government; to launch negotiations on setting the rate of bonuses and allowances and to integrate the flat-rate allowance of 20,000 CFA francs (30 Euros) to the basic wages of teachers who are paid under the State grant for religious education.

Other demands of the teaching staff: the revision of the assessment of the 1,045 denominational teachers paid out of the additional budget of the grant, the drafting and signing of a partnership agreement between the government and the denominational education sector as soon as possible, and the holding of a special entrance examination for public sector volunteer teachers for the purpose of become State-employed teachers.