Peru Plans to Hire Substitutes to Pressure Striking Teachers

The Peruvian government has announced that it is preparing a plan to hire substitute teachers to replace those who have been on strike for more than two months.

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President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is preparing an emergency decree to hire temporary teachers, according to Education Minister Marilu Martens.

Local education authorities in each of the country's regions are in charge of hiring new teachers, so Kuczynski will need an executive decree to obtain this power.

“If until Monday teachers don't reincorporate 100 percent, we will apply the replacement plan,” Arequipa Governor Yamila Osorio said. 

About 500 teachers in the northwestern Piura region have since denounced that they were fined up to $US100 each because they were part of the strike.

The government ended negotiations with the teachers on Aug. 21, after four days of failed attempts to reach an agreement to lift the strike. Meanwhile, the teachers are preparing to go on an indefinite national strike if their demands are not met.

Teachers claim they have been attacked and repressed by national police since they began their strike on June 15.