On Monday, Tunisian authorities announced the suspension of salaries for 17,000 teachers and the dismissal of 350 school directors in response to protests by educators who refused to submit their students’ academic results, putting pressure on the government to improve their financial conditions.
This move is expected to escalate the conflict with the General Labor Union and exacerbate tensions in the country, which is grappling with deteriorating public services amid a deepening economic crisis.
“The failure to provide students with their academic scores is a catastrophe and a crime against the rights of the Tunisian people’s children,” Education Minister Mohamed Ali Al-Boughdiri stated.
He emphasized that the law is the decisive factor between the government and those who defy it, adding, “Anyone who imagines that the authority is weak is deluded.”
Responding to the decision, Iqbal Al-Azabi, a representative from the Primary Education Union, told Reuters, “The minister’s retaliatory actions are aimed at starving teachers and undermining the labor union… It is blackmail and an illegal step.”
In reaction to the decision, the Education Union stated that hundreds of directors have begun submitting their resignations. The union pledged that the upcoming academic year would be challenging, hinting at expected protest actions.
Tunisian families fear that the ongoing conflict between the ministry and the union will deepen the country’s worsening crisis and pose a threat to another difficult school year, as they already struggle with high inflation rates, inadequate services, and a shortage of certain food items.
