Moroccan teachers' strike successful, union says

The first day of the three-day strike staged by Moroccan teachers this December 11-13 throughout Morocco was successful, with the participation rate nearing 100 percent.

La Conf?d?ration D?mocratique du Travail (CDT) said in a statement that the strike unfolded in a climate of responsibility and civism.

The teachers are staging the strike to press on with their claims and prompt the government "live up to commitments" it made in the frame of the agreement passed with trade unions on December 10, 2000.

The strike call was joined by three Moroccan trade unions, namely National Education Union, affiliated to the CDT trade union (Confederation Democratique du Travail), the Education Autonomous Federation, stemming from the UGTM (Union G?n?rale des Travailleurs du Maroc) and the National Education Federation, affiliated to the UMT (Union Marocaine du Travail).

The unions which staged sit-ins in front of the education ministry and university presidents' offices are also projecting a national march in Rabat after the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

The teachers had staged a first strike last November 13-14.

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.