Tehran, Iran, January 3
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
The Islamic Republic's Guardian Council in a new ruling stated that the employment of sessional teachers is against the law.
The Public Relations office of the legal body said their employment would violate Article 73 of the Constitution, Fars news agency reported January 3.
This deflates the hopes of thousands of sessional teachers who have gone many years with failed efforts at employment.
The ruling came as the Parliament two weeks ago referred to the Guardian Council a bill on the employment of sessional teachers with over three years of service in the Education Ministry. The council was required to provide its interpretation of the constitution vis-à-vis this bill.
On March 1, groups of teachers went on strike in reaction to low budget assigned for the Education Ministry's then next fiscal year (which started March 21).
Strikes were reported from Razavi Khorasan, Luristan, Hormozgan, Kurdistan, Khuzestan, Fars and Qazvin provinces.
Iranian teachers complain they are underpaid compared to their counterparts in many other countries.