Schools to resume but not the university

After a month long strike Burundian primary and secondary school teachers say they will resume work on Monday, but lecturers at Burundi’s public university say they will stay away until their situation changes. "We cannot live on promises," Paul Nkunzimana, the head of the university workers union told reporters in Bujumbura on Thursday after meeting with the minister of education. The lecturers are demanding three years salary arrears as well as payment for overtime and for supervising students’ thesis. The minister of education Cyrille Hicintuka promised to set up a commission to look into their demands but the lecturers said that when commissions were set up previously nothing changed. The education minister did honor some of the demands of secondary school teachers, Philibert Ngenzahayo, the chairman of their union known as CONAPES, told IRIN on Friday Out of 27,000 secondary school teachers some 21,500 have been paid. "We consider this to be a show of good will," Ngenzahayo added. The trade union for primary school students had said on Tuesday that its teachers would also resume work next week.