– We believe that it is absolutely necessary that teachers speak up when the proposal for a decision on the school structure issue prevents an equal educational offer for all students, say county leader Thore Johan Nærbøe, deputy leader Torill Beitdokken and contact person for secondary education Gry Rollag Føsker in a press release.
The political strike will last between 1pm and 2pm on Tuesday 22 October. Members of secondary schools in Innlandet then stop work and participate in various demonstrations against school closures in the county, says a press release from the Education Association of Innlandet.
County leader Thore Johan Nærbøe does not have an overview of how many will participate in the strike.
– Many will probably also travel to Hamar and take part in the big commemoration that will take place there, says Nærbøe.
Big consequences
The Conservative Party, the Labor Party and MDG have joined forces on a proposal to close Dokka and Skarnes upper secondary schools, as well as the schools at Flisa and Sønsterud at Solør upper secondary and Dombås and Lom at Nord-Gudbrandsdal upper secondary.
The reason is that the total number of pupils at the upper secondary schools in the interior has decreased by almost 3,500 since 2013 and is expected to decrease by a further 3,000 in the coming years.
The proposal will have such major consequences that it violates the principles of an equal education offer for students throughout the Inland, the association believes.
The county committee adopted the proposal on Friday. A final decision will be made in the county council on Wednesday.
– Catastrophic
– This is a political strike. We fight for our school and for the local community. The strike is voluntary, but we hope that many people will participate, says leader Gunhild Haug of the Education Association Åsnes to Glåmdalen.
On Tuesday, from 1.15pm to 1.45pm, teachers will leave their classrooms to demonstrate outside the town hall at Flisa.
– The proposal that is on the table will be disastrous for the village. If we lose the children, we also lose the entire local community. Everything will die out, she says.
Flour over Ap snu
Center party leader Emilie Enger Mehl asks the Labor party in the county council to turn around the school issue. It caused strong reactions when she stated before the weekend that county mayor Thomas Breen from the Labor Party would “prostitute” in order to gain power together with the Conservative Party.
– I think that’s crazy. And I just desperately hope that they turn around before this decision is made in the county council, said the Minister of Justice to NRK before the weekend.
– I have no regrets. The statement was a linguistic picture of Breen’s and Ap’s willingness to sell the identity and future of local communities in order to gain power with the Right. I’m still just as shaken, Mehl adds The Easterner.
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