Spain: Indefinite teachers’ strike provoked by language rights' attack
Monday, September 23, 2013
By Dick Nichols
The school year should have already begun on the Balearic Islands but it hasn’t. Since September 16, high school and
primary teachers have been on an indefinite strike.
In Palma up to 6000 teachers have been demonstrating daily. When the ceremony 1___________ (MARK) the start of the Balearic Islands’ university term was held, a swathe of 2______________(LECTURE) walked out to express their solidarity with the thousands of teachers protesting outside.
What has it taken to drive the teachers to such an extreme ― with no wages and 3____________ (DEPEND) on voluntary 4___________ (CONTRIBUTE) to their strike fund?
Why do all public sector teachers’ unions support the strike, both the “non-political” professional associations and the “political” unions associated with the major parties ― including the Balearic Island branch of the tame-cat National Association of Teachers of Education (ANPE), viewed as closest to the right-wing People’s Party (PP) that runs the islands’ regional government?
Two assaults on education and culture by regional and national PP administration have combined to drive the teachers to such high-stakes action.
Cuts and cultural attacks
There are the 5____________ (VANDALISE) cuts to education 6__________ (FUND), wages and working conditions, accompanied by the “reform” of the national syllabus by national education minister Jose Ignacio Wert.
These assaults have already produced huge 7___________ (STOP) and protests elsewhere in the Spanish state (especially in Madrid, where teacher’s 8____________ (RESIST) took the form of a “green tide” of protesters wearing the movement’s 9___________ (EMBLEM) green T-shirt).
The Balearic Islands, under the PP government of premier Jose Ramon Bauza and education minister Joana Maria Camps, is where the PP axe has cut deepest. Since May 2010, the teachers’ working week has risen from 35 hours to 37.5 hours and their wages have fallen on average by 25%.
The 2013-2014 school year is set to start 1000 teachers short (8.3% of the teaching body) for the same 10______________ (ENROL) of students.
The second factor is the Balearic Islands’ government’s new Integrated Language Procedure (TIL). This downgrades the Balearic 11_________ (VARY) of Catalan, the language of the islands for 800 years and of its school 12____________ (INSTRUCT) up until now, into one of three languages to be taught in the education system, along with Castilian (Spanish) and English.
This has turned teacher anger into extreme outrage.
Bauza’s pretext for the move is the need to make more syllabus time available for teaching in English, 13______________ (PORTRAY) as the passport to “a decent future for our kids”.
Further 14_____________ the fire of teacher fury has been the 15___________ (DESPOT) response of the Bauza government to any 16__________ (OPPOSE). In July, when three high school headmasters on Menorca simply communicated to the education department the 17___________ (AGREE) of their school councils with the 18_____________ (PROPOSE), they were 19___________ (SUSPEND.
When the education department’s 20___________ (REPRESENT) on Menorca then resigned in protest, he was 21__________(PLACE) by a reliable-looking priest from the ultra-conservative Catholic grouping Opus Dei. However, the curate had to resign before even starting the job because the outrage from big sections of the local Catholic community was so great.
Only now has Bauza been able to find a stooge willing to take the job ― a PP local councillor innocent of any connection with education.
On September 5, the timetable for TIL 22_____________ (IMPLEMENT) was provisionally suspended by the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands on appeal from one of the teaching unions. Bauza immediately 23___________ (PACK) the timetable as an emergency regulation to 24__________(LINE) the court.
As for the tone from the government benches, here is PP deputy Antoni Camps: “The positive side of this strike is that we'll know the name and surname of those who are concerned about the future of our children and those, on the other hand, who are playing with the students to achieve political goals.”
During the present strike high school students supporting the strike have been detained by police (with their number badges hidden) and had mobile phones confiscated. Staff and students have been 25__________ (THREAT) with 26___________ (SUSPEND) for wearing red-and-yellow bows at school to show support for Catalan and opposition to TIL.
However, none of this has 27______________ (TIMID) the movement―in the schools the students are putting out YouTube videos expressing their hatred of TIL and their solidarity with the teachers.
Adapted from GREEN LEFT
You can read the rest of the story and leave a comment here
In Palma up to 6000 teachers have been demonstrating daily. When the ceremony 1___________ (MARK) the start of the Balearic Islands’ university term was held, a swathe of 2______________(LECTURE) walked out to express their solidarity with the thousands of teachers protesting outside.
What has it taken to drive the teachers to such an extreme ― with no wages and 3____________ (DEPEND) on voluntary 4___________ (CONTRIBUTE) to their strike fund?
Why do all public sector teachers’ unions support the strike, both the “non-political” professional associations and the “political” unions associated with the major parties ― including the Balearic Island branch of the tame-cat National Association of Teachers of Education (ANPE), viewed as closest to the right-wing People’s Party (PP) that runs the islands’ regional government?
Two assaults on education and culture by regional and national PP administration have combined to drive the teachers to such high-stakes action.
Cuts and cultural attacks
There are the 5____________ (VANDALISE) cuts to education 6__________ (FUND), wages and working conditions, accompanied by the “reform” of the national syllabus by national education minister Jose Ignacio Wert.
These assaults have already produced huge 7___________ (STOP) and protests elsewhere in the Spanish state (especially in Madrid, where teacher’s 8____________ (RESIST) took the form of a “green tide” of protesters wearing the movement’s 9___________ (EMBLEM) green T-shirt).
The Balearic Islands, under the PP government of premier Jose Ramon Bauza and education minister Joana Maria Camps, is where the PP axe has cut deepest. Since May 2010, the teachers’ working week has risen from 35 hours to 37.5 hours and their wages have fallen on average by 25%.
The 2013-2014 school year is set to start 1000 teachers short (8.3% of the teaching body) for the same 10______________ (ENROL) of students.
The second factor is the Balearic Islands’ government’s new Integrated Language Procedure (TIL). This downgrades the Balearic 11_________ (VARY) of Catalan, the language of the islands for 800 years and of its school 12____________ (INSTRUCT) up until now, into one of three languages to be taught in the education system, along with Castilian (Spanish) and English.
This has turned teacher anger into extreme outrage.
Bauza’s pretext for the move is the need to make more syllabus time available for teaching in English, 13______________ (PORTRAY) as the passport to “a decent future for our kids”.
Further 14_____________ the fire of teacher fury has been the 15___________ (DESPOT) response of the Bauza government to any 16__________ (OPPOSE). In July, when three high school headmasters on Menorca simply communicated to the education department the 17___________ (AGREE) of their school councils with the 18_____________ (PROPOSE), they were 19___________ (SUSPEND.
When the education department’s 20___________ (REPRESENT) on Menorca then resigned in protest, he was 21__________(PLACE) by a reliable-looking priest from the ultra-conservative Catholic grouping Opus Dei. However, the curate had to resign before even starting the job because the outrage from big sections of the local Catholic community was so great.
Only now has Bauza been able to find a stooge willing to take the job ― a PP local councillor innocent of any connection with education.
On September 5, the timetable for TIL 22_____________ (IMPLEMENT) was provisionally suspended by the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands on appeal from one of the teaching unions. Bauza immediately 23___________ (PACK) the timetable as an emergency regulation to 24__________(LINE) the court.
As for the tone from the government benches, here is PP deputy Antoni Camps: “The positive side of this strike is that we'll know the name and surname of those who are concerned about the future of our children and those, on the other hand, who are playing with the students to achieve political goals.”
During the present strike high school students supporting the strike have been detained by police (with their number badges hidden) and had mobile phones confiscated. Staff and students have been 25__________ (THREAT) with 26___________ (SUSPEND) for wearing red-and-yellow bows at school to show support for Catalan and opposition to TIL.
However, none of this has 27______________ (TIMID) the movement―in the schools the students are putting out YouTube videos expressing their hatred of TIL and their solidarity with the teachers.
Adapted from GREEN LEFT
You can read the rest of the story and leave a comment here
KEY
1. marking
swathe /sweɪð/ a large number of people, or a large amount of something. E.g. The disease killed huge swathes of the population.
2. lecturers
3. dependent
Voluntary /ˈvɒləntri/
4. contributions
Stake: something
that you risk losing, especially money, when you try to predict the
result of a race, game, etc, or when you are involved in an activity
that can succeed or fail. Sp. lo que està en juego. E.g. How much was the stake (= how much did you bet)? They were playing cards for high stakes(= a lot of money). With only two points separating the top five players, the stakes are high as they enter the final round.
5. vandalising
6. funding (money for a particular purpose; the act of providing money for such a purpose. E.g. There have been large cuts in government funding for scientific research.)
7. stoppages (stoppage /ˈstɒpɪdʒ/ a situation in which people stop working as part of a protest or strike. E.g. 400 workers were involved in the stoppage. A two-day stoppage by train drivers)
8. resistance
9. emblematic /ˌembləˈmætɪk/ that is considered typical of a situation, an area of work, etc. E.g. The violence is emblematic of what is happening in our inner cities.
10. enrolment
11.
variant /ˈveəriənt/
12 instruction (the act of teaching something to somebody. E.g. golf/ski/maths instruction. Students were given little instruction on the techniques of taking notes.)
Pretext: /ˈpriːtekst/ a false reason that you give for doing something, usually something bad, in order to hide the real reason; an excuse. E.g. He left the party early on the pretext of having work to do.
13 portrayed
14 fuelling
15 despotic (despot /ˈdespɒt/ a ruler with great power, especially one who uses it in a cruel way. E.g. an enlightened despot (= one who tries to use his/her power in a good way. Despotic /dɪˈspɒtɪk/ despotic power/rule)
16 opposition
17 disagreement
18 proposal
19 suspended (suspend somebody (from something) to officially prevent somebody from doing their job, going to school, etc. for a time. E.g. The police officer was suspended while the complaint was investigated. She was suspended from school for a week.)
20 representative /ˌreprɪˈzentətɪv/
21 replaced
stooge /stuːdʒ/ a person who is used by somebody to do things that are unpleasant or dishonest
22 implementation
23 repackaged (repackage something to present something in a new way. E.g. She earns more since she repackaged herself as a business consultant.)
24 sideline (sideline somebody to prevent somebody from having an important part in something that other people are doing. E.g. The vice-president is increasingly being sidelined.)
25 threatened
26 suspension
27 intimidated
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