Teachers on strike halt traffic on Barcelona highway on third day of protests
Circulation back underway after serious traffic jams as education sector continues demands for change
Teachers on their third day of strike action this week cut traffic on one of Barcelona’s most important ring roads for some hours during the morning.
Circulation is already back in both directions, but the disruption caused serious delays and traffic jams.
The protest is part of five days of strike that the education sector has planned for the month of March.
The education ministry said that the strike was followed by 10% of staff on Thursday. Similarly low figures were given for Tuesday and Wednesday by the department, while unions placed the strike observation figures significantly higher.
Later in the day, 10,000 people gathered in Plaça Universitat and marched down Via Laeitana before reaching Plaça Sant Jaume, where the Catalan government headquarters are located.
There, they again demanded the resignation of the education minister, as they have done in all demonstrations over the past days.
Tuesday saw 22,000 teachers, parents, and students alike all march to the Department of Education to demand changes to the curriculum and calendar, after minister Josep González-Cambray proposed various changes including bringing the new academic year forward by a week.
The strike has seen an unprecedented level of unity among trade unions involved in education, and demands also include more investment in education, scrapping the new curriculum and instead debating and agreeing on the learning model with teachers and unions, as well as a stronger defence of the ‘immersion system’ that sees classes be given in Catalan.
On Wednesday, after being prevented from attending an education fair, minister Cambray u-turned on his position and instead announced that schools can individually opt in or out of the new curriculum for next year.
However, this was criticized by protesting teachers as they pointed out that they do not want a delay of the new learning model, but instead dialogue, negotiation, and consensus on how it will be.
Further days of strike action are planned for March 29 and 30.
Catalan president Pere Aragonès has rejected the idea of acting as an interlocutor with the education unions.
The head of government has reiterated his view that the Department of Education, led by minister Josep González-Cambray has the "expertise, knowledge and confidence" to engage in dialogue with the educational community.
Aragonès also stressed that the department has "the whole government by its side."