Government starts dialogue with teachers' unions

The Moroccan government on Friday started dialogue with the education sector's trade unions on teachers' grievances.

The government was represented in this first round of dialogue by finance and economy minister, Fathallah Oualalou and education minister, Abdellah Saaf.

Teachers had staged a strike November 13-14 and sit-ins in front of the offices of the ministry of education and the ministry of finance in all the cities of the kingdom to press on with their claims and prompt the government live up to commitments it made in the frame of the protocol of accord passed with trade unions on December 10, 2000.

The sit-in in Rabat before the ministry of finance on November 14 was marred by clashes between strikers and security agents.

The teachers had also planned to stage another three-day "national strike" December 11-13 at the call of three Moroccan trade unions. A national march was also scheduled to be held in Rabat after the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

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.