Versión Español
EspañolThe Peruvian Ministry of Education has declared that all teacher strikes in the capital of Lima are now illegal.
The Ministry of Education has reportedly urged over 10 regional bases of the country’s teacher’s union, which has held demonstration in the capital, to end all protests and to return to the classroom, where teaching has been interrupted.
The teachers’ strike has lasted more than 60 days, leaving students without classes in multiple parts of the country. In recent weeks, the protests have caused clashes with the police.
Teachers are demanding that salaries increase to about US $1,200 — which is 10 percent of the country’s GDP — and the repeal of the Magisterial Law, which establishes a basis for teaching evaluations that can lead to dismissals.
On August 16, Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski expressed his views on the teachers’ strike, saying that the group has some ties to terrorist groups. Nevertheless, Kuczynski said he would agree to open dialogue with two teacher union conglomerates.
However, he said that he will not talk with teachers sympathetic to the Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights (Movadef), which has connections to the armed guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso and other violent movements.
The Intelligence Service of Peru’s National Police said it has identified people protesting in the teacher’s strike that previously served prison sentences for terrorism.
Kuczynski said the salary of teachers who did not attend classes will be deducted.
“They were being paid,” Kuczynski said. “It’s over.”
Source: La República
