Nicaragua Unions Oppose Education Privatization
Education union leaders warned on Thursday there will be a great conflicts in Nicaragua if the Ministry of Education accepts the World Bank request for mass layoffs and privatization of education.

According to National Association of Teachers (ANDEN) leader Jose Antonio Zepeda and Confederation of Teachers head, Jose Siero, the beginning of the 2006 school year may be postponed.

In statements to "El Nuevo Diario", both Zepeda and Siero recognized the need to reshuffle Ministry of Education staff, but demanded that the trade unions be consulted to avoid injustice.

Siero said that the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (MEDC) plans to lay off 300 workers at the request of the World Bank.

Zepeda warned that teachers will be inflexible regarding MEDC"s plans to implement autonomous schools, as suggested by the international financial body.

The Ministry"s goal, said Zepeda, is to privatize basic education, but it will not be easy, because it violates the constitutional right of all Nicaraguans to free education.

He pointed out that 800,000 Nicaraguan children are not attending school this year, because their parents cannot afford to pay for their notebooks and uniforms.

Zepeda added that even free education is relative, because a recent study shows that parents pay 90 percent of expenses in public schools through the so-called "voluntary quotas".