Teacher strike threatens to reverse MDG gains

An ongoing three-month strike by 37,000 contract teachers in Niger threatens recent gains toward meeting the country’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of providing universal primary education, according to union leaders.



A skeletal staff of 7,000 public teachers is keeping schools open part-time while their colleagues on short-term contracts- who earn on average half as much – continue to strike over benefits. While teachers who are considered state employees earn up to US$240 per month, contract teachers earn at most $160 per month, according to the National Contract Teachers’ Union.



Oubandoma Salissou, with the Democratic Union of Public Workers, which represents state employees, including the 7000 teachers, told IRIN if the reduced staff cannot cover enough of the curriculum by the year-end exam and students are not able to advance to the next grade, Niger will lose ground in its quest to provide universal education.



“The situation with Nigerien schools is thorny. It will be difficult to save this school year,” said Salissou. Students currently attend about two days of classes per week given the reduced staff.



The rate of school-age children enrolled in primary school has increased to 53.5 percent in 2006 from a mere 25 percent in 1990. Of those enrolees, 40 percent successfully graduated to secondary education, which is more than double the rate some 20 years ago, according to the government.



For the previous school year, 1.3 million students or 57 percent of the primary school-age population, attended primary school, according to the government.



Angry



“We have been left on our own,” said secondary student Abdoulaye Ousseini, 18. “Our classmates have signed up to continue their studies in private schools in Niamey." The average cost for private school tuition goes up to $240 per year.

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Employed persons in Niger in 2007 earned on average $280 for the year, according to the World Bank.



For five days starting on 16 March, students protesting the teacher strike erected barricades, blocked routes and burned tires until police dispersed them.



Dispute



The head of the national contract teachers’ union, Moukaila Halidou, told IRIN the government has not respected earlier agreements to increase benefits and to transition contract workers to the better-paying state contracts after four years of service.



But the Minister of Education, Mamadou Samba, said during a public conference on 22 March that the state is short of the almost 23 million needed to pay benefits because it had hired three times as many contract workers- more than 6000 teachers - as was initially expected. He did not provide any plan to raise the funds.



Union leader Halidou told IRIN negotiations over benefits are stalled.



Year-end exams are scheduled to take place from 18 to 21 June.



pt/aj