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Unemployed Saudi teachers stage rare protest

Arab World Materials 9 January 2011 20:09 (UTC +04:00)
A group of 200 unemployed Saudi teachers staged a rare protest in Riyadh on Sunday, four months after a similar group demonstrated for three days in the same area, dpa reported.
Unemployed Saudi teachers stage rare protest

A group of 200 unemployed Saudi teachers staged a rare protest in Riyadh on Sunday, four months after a similar group demonstrated for three days in the same area, dpa reported.

The group of teachers gathered in front of the Ministry of Education for a few hours, demanding the government find them jobs, before authorities dispersed them.

Sunday's protest follows a few rare public display of dissatisfaction and signs of dissent by youth in the monarchy.

Last August, over 200 unemployed graduates with Arabic language degrees protested for three days. They left only after receiving promises of employment.

In March 2009, another group of unemployed teachers also protested in front of King Abdullah's palace.

The government say that unemployment in the oil-rich, conservative kingdom rose to 10.5 per cent, as job creation could not match the growing population. Of those unemployed, over 44 per cent hold college degrees.

However, unofficial statistics argue that the unemployment rate has peaked to 20 per cent.

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