English School staff protest outside palace

Members of the English School staff union (ESSA) held another in a series of ongoing protests on Monday morning outside the Presidential Palace.

The private school’s association on Sunday called forcefully for the decision to dismiss three teachers to be revoked.

“Unfortunately, it seems the management of the school is determined to proceed with unfair, arbitrary and illegal dismissals, despite our warnings and despite the reactions of all the major trade unions in the country,” the union said.

It added that management actions were motivated by “anxiety to satisfy the director, who had already begun to implement a school purge,” and that this provocative act could not go unanswered.

ESSA also said management was now responsible for the school not starting smoothly in September, and claimed “it was not a coincidence they chose to begin disciplinary proceedings for events that took place in October 2021 during the summer when the school would be closed.”

The association had previously urged all workers, especially colleagues from public and private schools to support the protest, stating that developments at the English School, but also overall in the private education sector (intensification of work, salary reductions, deterioration of working conditions, authoritarian decisions), made it necessary for all to “demonstrate mutual understanding and coordination.”