DAKAR, 15 October 2008 (IRIN) - More than 11,000 school teachers are demanding better work conditions and more pay as they continue a nationwide strike in Gabon that started on 6 October, according to Marcel Libama, the secretary general of the National Education Union (SENA).

"We have decided to strike now because the education system in Gabon is almost on the floor," said Moussounda Gean-goen, a striking primary school teacher. "Teachers are badly paid, badly housed and badly transported."

Government officials started negotiations with union representatives on 14 October said Pierre Njuemãmba, chief of staff at the Ministry of Education.

Vigdis Cristofoli, West Africa regional education specialist at UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), told IRIN bringing the strike to an end is critical: "Long-lasting strikes disrupt children's education so much that they cannot pass their exams. This can lead to high repetition rates."

Two out of every five people in Gabon are under the age of 15, according to a government census 10 years ago. Though 96-percent of school-aged children are enrolled in primary school, 30-percent of them must repeat school years, according to 2008 UN data.

Why now

For more than a decade, Gabonese teachers' unions have fought for better conditions, said union leader Libama. But with the depreciation of the local currency in the early 1990s and currently-spiraling prices, life has become even more difficult: "Teachers are the most affected by the rising cost of living because of low salaries," he told IRIN.

A 1991 law that changed public workers' salaries and benefits was disadvantageous to teachers, said Libama: "Those who became teachers after 1991 are having the most difficulty."

But the Ministry of Education's Njuemãmba dismissed this grievance: "Only the [public workers'] housing allowance has changed."

Still waiting

Libama said teachers want better transport and housing benefits and salaries equal to those before the 1991 law was enacted.

The government also owes teachers years of back pay, according to Libama: "Teachers have been waiting up to eight years and longer for the government to [back] pay their salaries," Libama said. "They tell us to wait. But nothing happens."

According to Libama, after 18 months as a teacher in training, the then-certified teacher should receive a higher wage. Then, every following two years, a teacher should get a promotion and salary increase.

"Gabon is a rich country with reserves of petrol and manganese. We are now capable of improving conditions for teachers so that we can achieve the Millennium Development Goal in education," said Libama.

Oil

With a per capita income surpassing US$6,000, Gabon is one of the richest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Bank. Gabon has been producing oil for many decades and is the world's third largest producer of the mineral manganese, according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

The Gabonese government has recently announced a projected national 2009 budget of just over $5 billion, up 38-percent from this year based on expected oil revenue.

But the Ministry of Education's Njuemãmba counseled patience. "This is not a problem of money," Njuemãmba told IRIN. "Teachers are being paid. But there are delays due to slow administration of documents."

Njuemãmba pointed out all civil servants are affected, not just teachers.

"I'm a teacher myself. I waited for 15 years to be refunded by the government and when I got paid, I was happy," he said.

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