ACCRS
Research meeting in Lebanon
On 11 January, three EI Lebanese affiliates met to discusses the interim report of EI’s study on “Business of Schooling in Conflict for Syrian refugees”. Lebanon is one of the three countries covered in the study. The meeting was organised by the EI Arab countries’ office, with the study due to be launched in Lebanon on 12 April.
Survey report of the FES/EI project
In mid-January, the EI Arab countries’ office issued the findings of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES)/EI project on the “Role of teachers’ unions in providing quality education for refugees”. The project targeted around 250 teachers and education administrators in Lebanon working with refugees in schools. The report details the gaps and obstacles to the provision of quality education to Syrian refugees in Lebanese public schools, as well as the impact on refugee students and the teaching body. It also highlights best practices by teachers and schools teaching refugees.
Growing resistance against privatisation of education in Morocco
On 28 January, the EI Moroccan affiliate, the Syndicat National de l'Enseignement - Confédération Démocratique du Travail(SNE-CDT), organised a roundtable on “Public school: What choices? What alternatives?” Attendees analysed the government’s privatisation laws and resistance to attacks on public education. This planning meeting followed up on SNE-CDT-organised demonstrations held on 18 December 2016, a mobilisation supported by other EI national affiliates. The roundtable was also attended by academics, researchers, Left politicians, and representatives of civil society organisations,the Syndicat National de l'Enseignement Supérieur(SNESup) of Morocco, the Federación de Enseñanza CC.OO. (F.E.CC.OO./Spain), in a demonstration of unity and alliance building.
Ongoing support for detained education union leader in Iran
On 4 February, Tehran Teacher Trade Association leader Esmail Abdi’s judicial appeal was rejected by Branch 33 of the Supreme Court. This confirms previous judicial decisions and implies that Abdi may have to serve a full six-year jail sentence imposed in November 2016. Abdi and three other Iranian teacher unionists were unjustly detained in July 2015 to prevent them from attending the EI World Congress in Canada. He was eventually released in May 2016 after a 16-day hunger strike and massive international campaigns. EI denounced the charges against Abdi, including one for “assembling and colluding against national security”, as unfair and contravening human rights conventions. An online petition has been launched in collaboration with the trade union platform LabourStart.
