Zenkyo and the Research Institute of Democracy and Education (RIDE) held the “International Symposium for the Struggle against the Attack on Teachers’ Professionality and Stronger Control over Teachers” on February 19 in Tokyo.

Zenkyo and the Research Institute of Democracy and Education (RIDE) held the “International Symposium for the Struggle against the Attack on Teachers’ Professionality and Stronger Control over Teachers” on February 19 in Tokyo. As panelists from other countries, Claudio Franqui, who is in charge of international affairs of Federazione lavoratori della conoscenza – Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (FLC-CGIL), Manuela Mendonça, candidate for secretary general of Federação Nacional dos Professores (FENPROF), and Barbara Madeloni, president of Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), joined the symposium.

Franqui revealed how the Italian government for the last 10 years has slashed education budgets, frozen wages, strengthened authority of heads of institutions, misused evaluation against teachers, and forced teachers to work longer hours.