Moroccan Teachers' Strike Successful, Union Says

The first day of the two-day strike staged by the education sector was successful with a participation rate of nearly 100 percent, said the national education union, affiliated to the CDT trade union (Confederation Democratique du Travail).

The union said in a release that the strike was held in a responsible climate that reflects the education sector staff's maturity and attachment to their claims.

The strikers also staged sit-ins Tuesday in front of the offices of the ministry of education and are to stage this Wednesday sit-ins before the offices of the ministry of finance in all the cities of the kingdom.

The national education union and the national education federation, affiliated to another trade union, l'Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT), had called for the strike November 13-14 to press on with their claims and prompt the government "live up to commitments" it made in the frame of the accord passed with trade unions on December 10, 2000.

Some 215,500 teachers are working in the Moroccan public education sector, including 121,763 in the primary education, 84,024 in secondary education and 9,701 in higher education.