Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Massive mobilization of teachers in defense of the Teachers' Statute and against the privatization of State Schools in Honduras


 

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The teachers' union, supported by the National Front for Popular Resistance (FNRP) took to the streets to defend the Teachers' Statute,  which was described as "unjustified"  by the the Constitutional Chamber  before the constitutional complaint that  had been submitted to repeal the law.
 
Tegucigalpa. Thousands of Honduran teachers by the Popular Resistance marched through the streets of Tegucigalpa, demanding respect for the Teachers' Statute, which guarantees job security for more than fifty thousand teachers, and whose repeal would nullify the achievements of the guild, in a clear attack by coup leaders to neutralize the main opposition group  to the coup of June 2009.
 
 Faced with attempts to amend the Statute, the protesters rallied in front of the Francisco Morazan National Pedagogical University in the Honduran capital.
On the premises of the house of higher learning, teachers urged the non- annihilation of the law not because it would be the worst mistake commited by the government and  would abandon hopes for national reconciliation.

"The teacher who  is aware is here present," was one of the slogans chanted by educators from five unions affiliated to the Federation of  Magisterial Unions of  Honduras (FOMH), which has about 50 000 members.

  The call was made by the Resistance Front, through a statement that supports the causes of the Magisterium. According to the protesters, the mobilization had more than 40 000 people.

The initiative was carried out after a lawyer filed a constitutional complaint against the Statute, which is in force since 1997, and was deemed inadmissible by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.

The lawyer, Manuel de Jesús Iglesias, was the one who  lodged the constitutional complaint, because in his opinion it  violates the constitutional provisions and grants privileges to teachers.

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court  of Justice dismissed the appeal against the Statute, because it had no statutory or legal basis to demonstrate that it violates the Constitution.

El 11 de septiembre de 1997 se emitió el Estatuto Docente por mandato constitucional, bajo el decreto legislativo 136, que se aprobó siendo presidente del Poder Legislativo Carlos Flores Facussé. On September 11, 1997, the Teaching Statute was issued by constitutional mandate under Legislative Decree 136, which was approved while Carlos Roberto Flores was  president of the Legislative Branch.

The purpose of the decree is to protect teachers, through the recognition of academic freedom, respect for the job title, to enjoy paid holidays and leave paid  in case of sickness, maternity and professional development and ensures social security, among other rights.

The current government argues that the law is a costly burden to the treasury, and that it does not contribute to the requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce spending as a condition for granting credit.


Source: http://ellibertador.hn/Nacional/3975.html

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