CAIRO – Egypt's Minister of Education Ahmed Gamal el-Din emphasised on Sunday that the teachers' strike is unusual, something that rarely happens in other countries, the official Middle East News Agency reports.
Teachers nationwide are striking today (Monday) for the third day in a row, calling on the Government to raise their salaries; they also have other demands.
The Minister said that some of these demands are quite reasonable and will be met soon, although he described the strike that has hit the whole country as going against the principles of education and the values of teachers.
Teachers are now starting to strike in more schools in Cairo. They want more bonuses, but the Minister said that the Ministry’s budget is only LE3 billion, so this is a demand that cannot be met.
While inspecting schools in Giza on Monday, el-Din failed to convince the teachers to end their strike. They insist on going on until their demands are met, arguing that there is no social justice.
"There is no social justice, Mr Minister; we urge you to give us our financial rights," they said.
El-Din has called on them to be patient, but they want these demands met right now.
