Video made by teacher activists calling on colleagues to join the protest on 31 March

Independent teachers unions have called for a million-strong protest on 31 March in front of the Cabinet Offices demanding a rise in the state budget for education to 6.5% of GDP. The Egyptian Teachers’ Federation said in a statement:

“Every ordinary Egyptian family, including teachers themselves, has the right to feel confident about the future of their children, and that through education, they will have the chance of a better future than their fathers and mothers. Every student has the right to feel confident that their teacher and their school will treat them humanely and deal with them as students rather than an money-making opportunity. The point is not whether schools do ‘good business’ or ‘bad business’, it is that students are not customers and teachers are not traders. The student wants to feel that he or she has a right to receive an education which frees their minds and spirits. Teachers have the right to feel that their social and educational status is valued, that their schools are able to help them deliver what they want to their students by providing an appropriate working environment (including sophisticated laboratories, reduced class sizes and resources for activities). Failure to achieve this in schools restricts teachers’ ability to teach and destroys their aspirations for the importance of their role.”

The protest is supported by the Egyptian Teachers’ Federation, the Independent Teachers’ Union and the All-Egypt Association of Al-Azhar Teachers.

To send a message of solidarity to the Egyptian teachers’ unions email menasolidarity@gmail.com