Yellow Ella

There has been a national strike in Peruvian schools for about a month now and it's the middle of the school year here. (They begin on the first of March go until mid-December.) English language papers report the strike has only lasted a day or two and I have to say that that's just plain wrong. Most schools near where I live have been closed for nearly 6 weeks now. The teachers in my town, Rinconada Llicuar are not, for the most part, in strong support of the strike and have only closed the schools for about 3 days of the last month. I have been teaching 5th and 6th grade health classes weekly with only 2 cancellations due to the strike.

Yesterday, I was finishing my 6th grade health class when the union showed up at the door yelling, armed with rocks and yellow paint. Luckily, some parents noticed a group gathering and came to warn the principal of their nearest school. That principal called the other two schools farther down the road so they could lock the doors and warn the kids. The principal of the school where I was teaching came in to tell me that we should continue class as usual but the strikers would probably throw rocks and break windows and we should watch out for breaking glass. The kids were terrified. In my class one or two cried (but were really trying to look tough and hide it), some were just too upset to pay attention, and the others were peeking out the windows trying to get look at the strikers. Strikers were yelling at the teachers that they were yellow and that they should be supporting the strike. Rocks were thrown in Rinconada, but not in Llicuar, where I was teaching. Finally, after about 15 minutes that seemed like an eternity, the principal sent all the kids home (about an hour early) and let the strikers in to talk with all of the teachers. A general announcement went out on the town's loud speaker system (used to announce everything from phone calls at the public phone to who is selling fish to who owes money for their water bill) and many of the parents came. Fortunately no one was injured and in retrospect it wasn't a terribly dangerous situation but at the time it was terrifying.

Schools are closed today and tomorrow. We had a parent's meeting today at the school in Rinconada and the parents say they just want the school to be open so that the kids can study. The principal and teachers agreed that on Monday things will go back to normal. Even if the strike continues they will have classes with the teachers who do not want to support the strike. In the case of the school in Rinconada only one teacher will strike.

So what's the deal with the strike? I haven't found a decent online political analysis so I'll just give you what I know of the basics. Peru has historically allowed uneducated, unprepared people to get a teaching degree in a few months. These programs no longer exist but, there are a lot of unprepared teachers who have taught for 15 to 20 years in public schools because of this employment program. These folks had the opportunity to continue their studies in the public universities to get a bachelor's degree, many did while others did not. The current president wants to improve the educational system by instituting a testing program and firing teachers who do not pass after three attempts. Teachers do not want to be fired and thus are striking. They say that testing is fine, but if they don't pass they should be trained, not fired.

And they seem fond of rocks and yellow paint. I certainly went home a bit yellow that day, even though no one threw paint at me.