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During the 6th ordinary Congress of the Chad Teachers’ Union (Syndicat des enseignants du Tchad – SET), unionists reinvigorated their union, discussed strategies to ensure the teaching profession is valued, reviewed the union’s statutory provisions, nominated national advisers, and elected a new national executive committee.

The event took place from the 4th to the 6th of September in the capital N’Djamena. It was co-funded by Education International (EI), the Union of Education Norway, the Centrale des syndicats du Quebec and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation.

Strengthening social dialogue

In his speech at the Congress, the Minister of National Education and Civic Promotion, Mamadou Gana Boukar, acknowledged that “this important meeting” aimed to “bring together activists and showed SET’s determination in striving to improve the working and living conditions of teachers”.

He recalled that Chad’s President, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno had stated he would “make education the cornerstone of his contract with all of the people of Chad”. He committed to “transforming our education system so it becomes exemplary and prepares our young people to rise to the challenges of the future and prepares them to play an active role in building a new Chad, one that is proud and united”.

According to the minister, the transformation of schools, “which is something all nations of the world subscribe to”, can only be achieved if the teaching profession is really valued, the quality of teaching and learning improve, and if both internal and external partnerships are strengthened.

Highlighting the importance of social dialogue, he added: “We must strengthen the partnership between the union and the ministry through sound proposals and, above all, in a spirit of continuous cooperation and frank discussions because we are key partners. Our strongest wish is for our actions, thoughts and decisions to be guided by and focused on our students, our learners, without whom there would be no teachers and no need for a national education ministry. I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate my department’s commitment to working with you on these matters.”

Defending the interests of education professionals and fighting for quality public education

Elected during Congress, the new SET Secretary General Ngolaou Bolmbari aims to restructure the union’s grassroots bodies.

“Having restructured the provincial branches, we will definitely focus on teachers’ demands. The restructuring will also allow us to identify all SET activists. This is what we will do in the coming days, with the school year starting in October. We will start with N’Djamena because this will not involve high costs. I will ensure there are smooth relations between the national executive committee and the grassroots bodies.”

He also guaranteed that, in the meantime, the union would look for funding so it could work in the provinces.

Furthermore, when the former SET committee hands over to the new one, he will try and contact the competent authorities.

“As general secretary, my priority is to reopen the negotiations that were interrupted due to a strike before Congress. A set of demands was sent to the government. All we need to do is contact them once we are in post so that we can focus on these demands.”

The outgoing SET general secretary, Blaise Mbaïriss Ngartoïde, also stressed the importance of the Congress theme: “Let us all mobilise to develop the SET: let us value and change our teaching profession” which “clearly shows that all union activists are willing, determined and committed to mobilising for the SET to be unified, for it to have an impact and above all, so it can battle, tirelessly, despite the challenging conditions it faces when defending the interests of education professionals. This in turn means promoting social rights and calling for an effective public education system, one that is equitable, inclusive and of high quality, and which is to the benefit of all the children of Chad, as stated in Sustainable Development Goal 4.”

He also stressed that participants needed to make concrete proposals aimed at improving the functioning of the SET: “This will be a matter of finding solutions to internal difficulties regarding connecting the different union levels. It will also be a question of striking a balance between what we want and aiming for a quality education system.”

Participant recommendations

Some of the recommendations made by the SET to the government included a call to improve teachers’ living and working conditions, increasing the education budget by 20%, respecting pupil-teacher ratios, respecting agreements signed with the social partners, speeding up the processing of pensioners’ files and protecting union officials and teachers when they are performing their duties.

The successful SET congress was a vital step for the future of education in Chad. By rising to current challenges and implementing the recommendations made, the new team hopes it can breathe new life into the union and improve the quality of education for the benefit of all the children of Chad.