Teachers In Mali Strike Over Premature Reopening Of Schools

Teachers in Mali have embarked on strike action following the decision of the Malian Government to reopen schools across the country that were closed in March as part of the measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The teachers decry the premature reopening of schools, even though the schools are only opened for final year students who are looking to write their final year exams.

The General Secretary of the country's National Union of Secondary School Teachers, Sambou Diadie Fofana, in an interview with AFP, said that the strike was engendered by a “lack of measures (taken) in schools to protect everyone”.

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Mali has recorded a total of 1,351 coronavirus cases, with 78 deaths.

The country's Education Minister Mahamadou Famanta, in a meeting, on Monday, with education bodies, said that there will be provisions of handwashing equipment and face masks at schools.

A public school teacher, Moussa Diallo, said that soap and water were available at “several places” at the school where he teaches.

Prior to this strike action, Malian teachers, in January, had walked out of classrooms over payment issues, as the government had promised an increment in salaries, to which the promise lies unfulfilled.