The government demands the
commitment of the educational community
We will sign the contract!
...but not with those
that demolish public education
We will sign it with the
people to preserve education as a public good
We, the teachers of the people that are currently suffering, we commit
to a contract with the people for an education that:
-
promotes Democracy as a common
way of thinking, acting and interacting with each other.
-
offers knowledge to children
and teenagers based on the supreme values of solidarity, collectivity and
collaboration.
-
respects childhood.
-
includes all children and
teenagers irrespectively of social origin, financial ability, color, religion
or ethnic origin.
-
teaches the history of the
struggles of our people for freedom, democracy, equality and justice.
They demand from us to serve
the principle of 'excellence' and to eradicate mediocracy. They demand from us
to focus on only a few students in every class and to leave the rest to fall
into analphabetism and later into precarious employment. All of this is
presented with the face of 'quality upgrade'...
We, the teachers, refuse:
-
to watch schools shutting
down.
-
to be accomplices in the
production of a 'lost generation'. We will not allow our students to belong to
the class of the losers just because their social origin is not supposed to
provide them with access to education and decent living.
-
to serve the fake schools of
'excellence' in which the 'non excellent' will be driven to child labor.
-
to watch our colleagues to
become unemployed for ever.
We, the teachers, are part of
the people. We studied to serve the people and to return our knowledge to them.
Now, we will defend in any possible way the right of the children for
education. This right has to be continued to be provided to all children
irrespectively of social origin, social class, financial ability, color,
religion and ethnic origin.
We actively support a school
based on the principles of democracy, humanity, solidarity, equality, respect
and collective action.
We defend in all possible ways PUBLIC and FREE
EDUCATION as the ultimate expression of our social and personal responsibility.
Wednesday 28/11/2012
The general assembly of the
Union of Athens Secondary School teachers 'Aristotle'