Negotiations between labor unions and teachers are still at a standstill. A week-long truce in the strike is expected next week. To those who cry wolf about the threat to the end-of-year exams, the Ministry of Education reassures.
From Monday, the signatory National Education Labor Unions of October 15, 2016 (SYNESEC, SYNEB, SYLDEF, SYNEFCT, SYPESCO, FENAREC) plan to observe a truce in their strike movement. A truce during which, according to a source within the labor unions, another peaceful march is expected to take place on April 27, throughout the country.
On Wednesday April 5, the teachers marched to protest against the government’s withdrawal as to the application of the “Minutes of conciliation agreement of 8 January 2017”, in which it is stated that “the Government commits to give a status to the teachers. No aspect, including the grid, will be obscured during the work of the commission which will be set up for this purpose no later than 31 January 2017 “.
After the week of truce, the strike should resume. “We have understood the game of the government, because it is a game. The authority wants to seduce people, if not how can we understand that only a few days after the arrival of the Prime Minister they found a solution to the strike of the doctors “, considers this teacher who bets on the end of the strike of the teachers labor unions before the end of this month.
This strike situation poses definite threats to the end-of-year examinations. But at the Ministry of Education, there is no question of alarm: “As far as examinations are concerned, field work is under way with the training of officials at all levels of education and throughout the country to the management and supervision of the examination centers and secretariats. The organization of the examinations have begun on the ground with supervision missions to explain the roles of all the actors concerned, mayors, prefects, sub-prefects, school administrators, governors … “, explains Sekouba Samaké, communications officer at the Ministry of Education.
In the notice, fundamental and secondary school teachers are demanding, among other things, the adoption of an autonomous status for the teacher; the harmonization of the salaries of Malian teachers with those of the sub region; the increase in the special responsibility allowance for category A, B and C teachers; the regularization of the administrative and financial situation of the outgoing comrades of ENSup (new formula) in the same way as those of ENI and IPR-IFRA; the conformity of the re-reading of order 3282 of August 11, 2016 with the recommendations of the letter of protest of the different labor unions.
According to the Cabinet of the Ministry of National Education, the two parties agreed to the establishment of a consultative framework (Government, labor unions, civil society and conciliators) charged of examining the question of the status of teachers and the bonuses and allowances allocated to teaching staff with an aim of submitting to the Government proposals enabling to take a good decision.
The ‘’Status”, the cause of the failure of the negotiations
Early February, at the first two meetings, differences arose between the two parties about the nature of the status. According to the secretary general of the National Labor Union of Basic Education (SYNEB), Soumana Issiaka Maiga, the government committed to grant autonomous status to teachers.
“False”, replied on the side of the government, where the Constitution of February 25, 1992 is waved, which does not provide autonomous status for teachers, unlike the ministerial officers (notaries, bailiffs), the legal and judicial professions, armed forces and security personnel.
According to the government, the adoption of an autonomous status for teachers would also constitute a decline in the decentralization policy, which “provides that the management of teachers serving the local authorities falls within the competence of the presidents of the executive bodies of the said local authorities”.
In 1998, teachers recalled that the government granted them an autonomous status, which was abrogated in 2002. The autonomous status is, on the government’s side, granted to “professors of higher education, researchers, civil protection officers, national police officers and prison officers and supervised educators”.
“Higher education is a hierarchical and autonomous body in all the countries of the sub region. Mali being a member of the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (CAMES) can not be on the margins of the provisions envisaged by this scientific organization”, adds the government side.
Aboubacar Dicko