Teachers march against budget cuts

September 15 2011 at 01:33am By Sonya Dowsett

Reuters

People taking part in a demonstration against proposed budget cuts in public education hold up giant pairs of scissors to symbolise the cuts in central Madrid.

Madrid - Thousands of teachers packed central Madrid on Wednesday to protest against spending cuts they estimate at two billion euros - part of government measures to cut the budget deficit.

Banging drums and blowing horns, many wore green T-shirts bearing the slogan, “Public education for all”, and carried banners proclaiming, “We are not for cutting” or “Families for the teachers”.

The march on the Education Ministry coincided with the first day of the academic year in state-run secondary schools and centred on plans to make teachers spend more time in the classroom, reducing the need for temporary staff.

Unions have also called for two days of strikes in state schools in the capital on September 20 and 21, and will hold a rally in Madrid on October 22.

Education budgets are controlled by regional governments, whose spending lies at the heart of concerns about Spain's ability to slash its budget deficit and avoid sinking into a debt crisis like Greece or Ireland.

Austerity measures have alienated many supporters of the Socialist government, which is expected to lose the November 20 parliamentary election to the conservative People's Party.

Unions say the cuts will mean 13 000 temporary teachers joining the four million unemployed in Spain, which at 20.9 percent has the European Union's highest jobless rate.

They also say the cuts will undermine the education system, which suffers from one of the highest drop-out rates in Europe with about 30 percent of school leavers aged under 16 years.

Several marchers said the cuts would prevent them from splitting up large groups and allow less time for tutoring, library and laboratory work, or to hold workshops.

“What it will most affect is children with difficulties,” said Ana Siguenza, 53, a vocational training teacher, who has worked in Madrid schools for 35 years.

One centre-right commentator said claims children's education would suffer were ill-founded.

“The teachers say education will suffer if they are forced to teach an extra two hours a week,” said Jose Folgado, economist and Popular Party mayor for Tres Cantos, near Madrid.

“The children learn better if the real teachers, and not the temporary teachers, teach less hours? It doesn't make sense.”

The teachers' rally follows a march by unions last week against austerity measures and months of protest by the “Indignant” movement, consisting mostly of young people aggrieved by high unemployment.

Europeans have taken to the streets in several member countries of the 17-nation euro currency union as their governments cut spending on pensions, health and education to rein in a debt crisis which threatens to engulf the region. - Reuters

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