Moroccan police use violence to disperse protesting teachers

Moroccan police violently dispersed a teachers' demonstration in the capital Rabat on Tuesday, protesting the government's decision for recently-hired educators to work on temporary contracts. 

The teachers attempted to stage a sit-in outside the ministry of education before the police moved in to disperse the crowds using batons. 

Videos and photos from the event show the police striking protestors, which reportedly resulted in injuries. 

Demonstrations in Morocco are banned by the authorities citing coronavirus pandemic restrictions. 

Teachers in Morocco are angered by the temporary contracts and staged repeated protests since 2019 calling for higher wages and integration into the civil service. 

The government insists that teachers on the temporary contracts have the same starting salaries as their counterparts in the civil service on permanent ones.

The temporary contracts were instigated by Morocco in 2016 and since then more than 50,000 teachers have been hired under the system. This is part of continuing efforts by the Moroccan government to reduce public spending.

Previous strikes in November 2020 were organised by Morocco's Democratic Confederation of Labor and the National Federation of Education, and were a continuation of strikes by the National Coordination of Contractual Teachers.

It was reported by the National Coordination of Contractual Teachers that the government deducted $162 from the salaries of contract teachers who took part in protests in 2019 and 2020.

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