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| Dissident teachers encampment in Mexico City's central plaza, in front of National Palace Photo: Martín Salas, Milenio |
La Jornada: Laura Poy Solano
Among dozens of tents installed in the Zocalo [Mexico City's central plaza], dissenting teachers of the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CNTE), said that the agreement signed with the Secretariat of Government Relations [SEGOB] so that their alternative education project is recognized by different branches of the government, such as Congress,
"is just the beginning of a process that we will evaluate step by step."Members of the National Policy Directorate (NPD) of CNTE said the signing of the commitment with federal authorities,
"doesn't leave us satisfied, because it is only a stage of the struggle. We will not stop insisting that modifications [via the education reform] to Articles 3 and 73 of the Constitution are a setback, not a breakthrough. And we have arguments to defend this position."Francisco Bravo, secretary general of dissident teachers of Section 9 of the Federal District, and a member of the national negotiating committee, explained that
"this is an initial agreement, but it depends on the federal government for it to become solidified in significant progress, because we insisted that we want to be heard, and not only that, but that our proposals be taken into account.
"This is a basic text that allows us to make a start about the issues that concern the dissident teachers, but it is not the full answer to our demands. The commitment we have as teachers is to demand a real national debate on the country's educational project, and not pretend that everything may be imposed."In a separate interview, Juan Melchor, a teacher in Section 18 [Michoacán] and a member of the dissident teachers' leadership, reported that on Sunday the National Representative Assembly will be convened to define details of the national mobilization planned for May 15, which is Teacher's Day, and regarding the date when dialogue with federal officials will be resumed.
He said just over 2,000 teachers, who remain indefinitely in the Plaza of the Constitution [Zocalo] in the national encampment, will undertake to distribute leaflets in different parts of the capital, and also in nearby states, in order
"to strengthen our information day about the reform and its effects on working life, but also its impact in the classroom."Bravo stressed regarding
"the commitment undertaken with the Secretariat of Government Relations, we will evaluate whether we will move to a second phase that would include establishing the dates, places and how we will open this discussion to the teachers of the entire country."Meanwhile, the work of organizing the national encampment continues in the Plaza of the Constitution, where the number of tents and tarpaulins increases. Spanish original