Weekly Report - 6 November 2008 (ISSN 1741-7422)

GUATEMALA | Teachers' strike. Thousands of teachers employed by the community-managed programme for educational development (Pronade) have taken to the streets in Guatemala City and across the country. Under the Pronade scheme, which includes some 14,000 teachers, schools receive government funding but are run by the community instead of the ministry. Pronade teachers have long been demanding that the government honour promises made to them before and after the elections last September, including labour guarantees for teachers. The government claims these demands would cost an additional US$40m. The protests by the teachers have not met with the approval of the national teachers' union, which remains opposed to the idea of Pronade - ostensibly on the grounds that it gives rise to corruption. In reality, however, supporters say that teachers are made more accountable under the scheme.

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