Schools reopening in Guinea afer 3-week strike, violence

People demonstrate in a street on February 21, 2017, in Conakry where at least six people died during violent protests on the eve as people demonstrated over teachers’ strikes that have closed schools for the past three weeks, government sources said. At least 30 people were also wounded, including members of the police force in Conakry, the government said in a statement. A number of violent protests have rocked the city in the past few weeks, mainly by young people and students who support a teachers’ strike.

Schools began to reopen across Guinea on Wednesday after a three-week strike and violent protests that left seven people dead in the capital this week, an AFP journalist and school staff said.

The violence in Conakry on Monday and Tuesday capped weeks of protests mainly by young people and students that prompted the government to close schools on February 1.

The protests were in support of a strike by temporary teachers demanding full-time government contracts.

On Wednesday, students began trickling back into classrooms in the capital and in other cities, with the country’s biggest secondary school, Lycee Donka, seeing 60 percent attendance, teacher Bangaly Traore told AFP.

But staff at a nearby school reported only 20 percent of students and 15 percent of teachers present, while schools in the cities of Labe and Kankan were reported to be 33 percent full.

Schools reopened after unions struck a deal with the government late Monday, but some teachers told AFP the deal fell short of their demands.

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