PALESTINE
Thu 06 Apr 2023 8:21 pm - Jerusalem Time
Rajoub: "Fatah" provides guarantees regarding the rights of teachers.. and "Al-Hirak" announces the continuation of the activities
Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee Lieutenant General Jibril Rajoub affirmed today, Thursday, the government's commitment to the agreements it signed and meeting all the teachers' demands, and that the Fatah movement in all its frameworks is the guarantor of that, but the " teachers' movement " announced the continuation of the strike and its protest activities since next Sunday.
Rajoub said during a press conference held at the headquarters of the Radio and Television Corporation in Ramallah, "The Fatah movement has reviewed all the agreements, and the government will abide by what was agreed upon. The first item in ensuring the government's commitment is the dignity of the teacher," calling on teachers to return to their schools starting from Next Sunday, to continue their march and perform their message.
Rajoub explained that "the government will pay 5% of the teachers' dues and 10% will be placed on the salary slip, and all legal and administrative financial measures taken against striking teachers will be reviewed and cancelled."
Rajoub added, "Professionalization of education will also be approved, and there will be procedures for an elected general union of teachers, starting from the beginning of the next academic year, according to the regulations of popular organizations in the PLO."
Rajoub said: "This announcement is happening for the first time, there is no justification for the continuation of the protests, and our position must be convincing, and we will not allow the overthrow of the authority, nor the fall of the education system, and we will work to review the status of education and the teacher."
Rajoub pointed out that there is mismanagement in the file of the teachers' strike, as well as a lack of trust. There are just demands and trade union agendas that we agree with, and there are agendas that want to politicize the issue, stressing the need to remove the teacher and the educational process from political tensions.
For his part, teacher Faisal Jadallah from the Nablus Education Directorate, and one of the observers of the agreement concluded with the teachers last year, said in an interview with Al-Quds, “The Rajoub speech carries a high positivity, especially since there is a commitment to last year’s initiative, and the entry of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement. It has a positive impact, and it is assumed that the movement’s statements are more studied and that we do not rush to give positions, and that we study all proposals more deeply, although the teacher has the right to reject and accept what he wants.
Jadallah indicated that Rajoub's speech talked about commitment to last year's initiative, regarding the democratization of the union and the new setting a time limit for that. There was talk about the professionalization of education, which is a demand for teachers to involve it in drafting laws that lead to professionalization. The speech also carried a clear retreat from all penalties. There is a positive discourse regarding the teacher’s appreciation and the language in which the teacher is spoken to, noting that the teachers are ready for any program to compensate the students.
With regard to the 15%, Jadallah confirmed that placing the 10% on the salary slip that Rajoub spoke of was conditional on the stability of the PA’s financial situation, and teachers want to know whether setting the percentage means spending it in the 2023 budget or not?
In turn, Omar Assaf, a member of the mediation initiative that led to the signing of the agreement last year, told Al-Quds: "We expected Rajoub to take a step forward, but his speech did not bring anything new except for guarantees, so the teacher's response was expected."
Assaf continued, "We respect what the teachers decide, as they are stakeholders, and we refer to the initiative, but Rajoub's speech did not implement the initiative that was concluded last year."
Meanwhile, the "teachers' movement" confirmed, in a statement, that the previously announced activities will continue as they are, the first of which is the morning strike with proof of presence, fingerprint, and signature, with leaving at any time the teacher wants for all stages, especially the guidance.
The movement spoke of what it called a "conspiracy" aimed at breaking the teacher in the most brutal and brutal way, through the repeated video that does not bring anything new and has been repeating itself for two months, and that its aim is for teachers to get bored and gradually break according to the government's vision, while the movement referred to recent meetings between Amin The secret of the central committee of the Fatah movement, Jibril Rajoub, with some teachers, principals, governors, and the Minister of Interior.
And he continued, "We have to say to the government and to Mr. Jibril Rajoub: Your meetings, meetings, and speech did not bring anything new, and therefore there is no change in our position as teachers gathered around our movement, as we will continue to abide by its activities."
The "movement" stressed that it was not an obstacle to solutions and welcomed the rationality of them, and looked wisely at some of the theses that reached it, indicating that the "mobility" is not a cause of the problem, but rather the government's intransigence and its desire to break the landmark.
Throughout the days of the strike, teachers carried out sit-ins in front of the headquarters of the education directorates in the West Bank in response to the "teachers' movement", amid the teachers' insistence on demanding their rights until the implementation of an agreement concluded, in May 2022, between the Palestinian government, the General Union of Palestinian Teachers and the "teachers' movement". sponsored by many institutions and personalities, and the strike stopped after that, but protests and strikes have returned since February 5, 2023, to demand the implementation of this initiative.
The agreement included 5 clauses: returning discounts to teachers, professionalizing education, issuing a teacher protection law, working to “democratize the union”, and depositing a 15% bonus for the nature of work on the salary slip, starting from the first month of the new year 2023.
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Rajoub: "Fatah" provides guarantees regarding the rights of teachers.. and "Al-Hirak" announces the continuation of the activities