Government will respond to teachers’ demands in writing; The teachers ratify the strike for Friday

Exhausted by face-to-face negotiations, the teachers and the government agreed that the Ministry of Education send a written response to the five points demanded by the Confederation of Urban Education Workers of Bolivia (Cteub). Teachers will analyze that official document.

“We are going to send, in the course of the following hours, the proposal for a solution to the conflict. On that basis, they organically meet so they can discuss and they send us a counterproposal, make the adjustments and with that (the) will come to a conclusion of the problem”, said the Minister of Education, Edgar Pary, at a press conference, in time to announce that they had agreed on a fourth intermission.

Teachers and the government have been in conflict since the beginning of February over five points of the teacher’s demand: the new curricular mesh, the budget for education, endowment of items, payment of historical debt (of items) and the call to the Education Congress.

Pary pointed out that in the meetings they held with the leaders of the teachers’ already answered these five pointsbut that now it was agreed that the same answers be delivered in writing.

Previously, the minister had reported that three of the five points were already answered implicitly in the specifications that the COB delivered, such as the Education Congress and the provision of new items; Regarding the new curriculum, he stated that there is a confederation of parents who support this system and that, therefore, there must be a balance between what the two sectors, teachers and parents, are asking for.

In that way, the salary increase and the payment of the so-called historical debt would remain in the debate. The minister indicated that they will deliver a written response to all the points and considered that, until before Friday, they can sit down again and refine the written response or discuss the teachers’ counterproposal.

For their part, the teachers They don’t have high expectations of that answer, They warned that the decision of a work stoppage for Friday is maintained, if the Government does not give in to the demands they have. They have already called for mobilizations for that day, with all the teachers and throughout the country.