Teachers’ Unions Strike and Protest in Front of Parliament
Teachers in Northern Cyprus have gone on strike to protest the Teachers Amendment Bill, which they argue threatens the rights of Atatürk Teachers Academy and other teachers. The Cyprus Turkish Teachers’ Union (KTÖS) and the Cyprus Turkish Secondary Education Teachers’ Union (KTOEÖS) organized the demonstration in front of the Assembly of the Republic, along with representatives from some political parties and the Trade Union Platform. The two unions went on strike for four and a half hours in schools where they are organized. Both unions called for the focus to be placed on solutions to structurally unsafe schools and for offering Turkish support lessons to those students who do not speak Turkish or English. Secretary-General of the Cyprus Turkish Secondary Education Teachers’ Union, Tahir Gökçebel, claimed that the draft law was discussed and enacted behind closed doors and called for greater transparency in how the law was created. The Secretary-General of the Cyprus Turkish Teachers’ Union, Burak Maviş, said that while teachers were trying to teach under considerable strain, the Ministry of National Education focused on the rights of teachers rather than trying to find solutions to the problems they faced. Selma Eylem, President of the Cyprus Turkish Secondary Education Teachers’ Union, pointed out that it was the teachers who kept education and schools alive with their self-sacrifice and needed support and a fair hearing in their fight for their rights.
