Simultaneous with the beginning of the school year, on September 25, 2021, Iran teachers held protests in more than 40 cities across the country and in 20 provinces. Women are active and vocal in these protests.
Iran teachers held protests in the provinces of Tehran, Fars, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Zanjan, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Ilam, Razavi Khorasan, North Khorasan, South Khorasan, East Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Yazd, Gilan, Kerman, Ardabil, Chahar Mahal, and Bakhtiari, Mazandaran, Bushehr, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad.
The teachers protested their unbearable job and living conditions and the Education Ministry’s failure to implement the ranking plan, pay the pensioners’ benefits, etc.
Iran teachers chanted, “incarcerated teachers must be freed.”
They said so long as they do not obtain their rights, they will not attend classes to teach. They also decried discrimination against teachers.
Tehran, Kermanshah, Shiraz, Abadan, Marivan, Saqqez, Bojnourd, Isfahan, Mahshahr, Sari, Kuhdasht, Ilam, Andimeshk, Ashkenan, Zanjan, Massiri, Yazd, Torbat Heydarieh, Shirvan, Behbahan, Sanandaj, Khorramshahr, Khorramabad, Arak, Ahvaz, Lamerd, Yasuj, Izeh, Aligudarz, Nourabad, Shahr-e Babak, Tabriz, Ardabil, Delfan, Bushehr, Kazerun, and Rasht were among the cities where the teachers held their protests outside government buildings on Saturday morning.
Teachers have been protesting since last year, but the clerical regime has refrained from addressing their demands. As the start of the new school year neared, they resumed holding successive nationwide protests throughout September.
On September 18 and 23, Iran teachers held protests in various cities. More than half of Iranian teachers are women.
Teachers with Green Report Cards who passed the Education Ministry’s employment exam last year have also held protests and sit-ins in front of the Education Ministry in Tehran for more than 20 days. Teachers have joined the protest in Tehran from various cities, stayed at the sit-in place all night long, and continued their protest rallies. Many of these teachers have brought their young children with them.
Teachers with permanent employment receive an average salary of 4 million Tomans a month. Teachers with temporary contracts receive between one and two million Tomans a month. Often, they do not receive their salaries for months, while the poverty line in Iran is 14 million Tomans a month.
