Teachers across Iran held rallies on Thursday, protesting the government and parliament’s refusal to address their needs.
Rallies include both active and retired teachers, who have been hit hardly by an economic downturn and the regime’s dithering in passing laws and allocating budgets improve their conditions.
Protests were reported in more than 100 cities, including Tehran, Mashhad, Tabriz, Isfahan, Rasht, Sanandaj, Ahvaz, Arak, Karaj, and Kermanshah.
In Tehran and Mashhad, there’s a heavy presence of security forces to control the rallies. In Shiraz, security forces attacked the teachers’ rallies. The teachers resisted and prevented the security forces from dispersing them.
The teachers are demanding job security, wages adjusted based on inflation and currency depreciation rates, education reform, and removal of discriminatory laws.
The protesting teachers are also demanding the release of teachers’ rights activists arrested and imprisoned by the regime’s security forces. “Imprisoned teachers must be released,” “Political prisoners must be freed,” “Teachers will die but won’t give in to disgrace,” “Students deserve free education,” “Teachers, rise and fight discrimination,” “We’ve heard too many promises and no justice,” and “Shame on the state-run broadcasting organization.”
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), praised the Iranian teachers for showing that they “will not back down despite the clerical regime’s deceptive plans, threats, & suppressive measures. The teachers’ movement will carry on until their demands are met.”
Mrs. Rajavi also said that the teachers’ movement reflects the “determination of the general Iranian public to overthrow the clerical regime that is the main cause of oppression, corruption, poverty, unemployment and poverty” and called on students and youth to join the teachers in their protests.
I call on Iranian youths, particularly the high school and university students, to join their teachers in support. The first lesson of the freedom-loving teachers of #Iran is to be free and courageous in the face of the mullahs’ oppression.
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) December 23, 2021
Last week, the Majlis (parliament) passed the “Teachers Ranking” bill, which is supposed to address many of the problems the teachers have been faced with in recent years.
According to the bill, teachers will be classified according to “general, specialized and professional qualifications, experience, and competitive function” and will be divided into five rankings. Salaries will be determined based on the ranking of the teachers.
Dec 23 – Tehran, #Iran
Protesting teachers chanting:
"Imprisoned teachers must be released!"#IranProtests #اعتراضات_سراسری_معلمانpic.twitter.com/e3u9SSXy5X— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 23, 2021
While the regime has boasted about the bill and its achievements, Iranian teachers are calling out the regime for not addressing their needs.
The Iranian Teachers Coordination Council called the bill deceitful and unacceptable and declared that the government has warned that it won’t even implement this flawed plan in the current Persian year, which will continue until March 2022.
According to the bill, a total of 250 trillion rials will be allocated to around 734,000 teachers across Iran in the coming Persian year, starting in March 2022. But it doesn’t take into account the tens of thousands of tutors who are working on unofficial contracts because the education ministry refuses to hire them despite having passed its test.
Dec 23 – Mazandaran, northern #Iran
Teachers protesting for higher wages are chanting:
"Teachers are awake & despise discrimination!"
"Detained teachers must be released!" #IranProtests #اعتراضات_سراسری_معلمان pic.twitter.com/ORf2rRgWPX— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 23, 2021
But after the bill was passed, Hossein Arab Assadi, the deputy of the Employment Affairs Organization, said, “There’s no funding to implement the law in the current year and the government has no credit for the year 1400 [March 2021-March 2022].”
Majlis Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf had previously declared that the Majlis cannot change the 250 trillion-rial budget allocated to this plan per year.
The teachers had held nationwide protests rallies in early- and mid-December.
The regime has tried to intimidate the teachers by describing their rallies as a “security threat” and paving the way for their repression.
Dec 23 – #Iran
Teachers rallying across the country for better pay and pensions.Babol – Rasht – Shush#IranProtests #اعتراضات_سراسری_معلمان pic.twitter.com/tgk5Z7f1RY
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 23, 2021
On December 15, the state-run Keyhan newspaper warned that the rallies are being carried away and controlled by the “enemies of the state.”
Meanwhile, Javan newspaper, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, tried to downplay the teachers demands and complained that 72 percent of the education budget increase has been allocated to the teachers. “Instead of allocating our credit to expand the education system and increase the quality of education, we are spending it on salaries,” the newspaper wrote.
Ironically, Javan makes no mention of the budget of its owner, the IRGC, which has seen a 240-percent year-over-year increase to spend billions of dollars on foreign terrorism, ballistic missiles, internet censorship, and domestic repression.
Dec 23 – Arak, central #Iran
Teachers protesting for better paychecks and chanting:
"Detained teachers must be released!"#IranProtests #اعتراضات_سراسری pic.twitter.com/SyD2PH4BpA— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 23, 2021