{"id":11711,"date":"2013-10-17T00:28:53","date_gmt":"2013-10-17T03:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=11711"},"modified":"2015-05-19T09:20:44","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T12:20:44","slug":"favela-residents-and-teachers-unite-in-teachers-day-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=11711","title":{"rendered":"Favela Residents Join Teachers Day Protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post is a contribution to\u00a0Blog Action Day 2013<\/a>\u00a0in which bloggers around the world reflect on this year\u2019s theme, Human Rights.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesterday, Tuesday October 15, an estimated 20,000 people took to the streets in solidarity with teachers on strike and demanding improved education in Brazil. Taking place on Teachers Day, the protest<\/a> was the latest in a series of recent protests regarding education and teachers’ pay, career plan and roles. Demonstrators marched down the main downtown artery, Avenida Rio Branco, before, as in other recent protests<\/a>, violence broke out between protesters and police.<\/p>\n

Present at yesterday’s protest were representatives from favelas and community organizations across Rio, mobilizing in unity with teachers and bringing attention to their own struggles within the broader city context. We spoke to favela residents, activists and teachers in attendance, asking them why they took part in the protest. Here is what we heard:<\/p>\n

There is a big effort by the government to remove families instead of investing in education. We demand that the government stop\u00a0removals<\/a>\u00a0and invest in education!”– Rachel Gepp,\u00a0Favela N\u00e3o Se Cala<\/a>\u00a0activist<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We are from the\u00a0Horto<\/a>\u00a0community, located in Jardim Bot\u00e2nico, a historic community threatened with removal because the authorities recently created a new demarcation map, which places 520 houses of former and current employees of Jardim Bot\u00e2nico within an area to be removed… In Horto we are facing the possibility that one of our schools (Manuel Bandeira) will be closed. Education is the most important thing in a country, it is the foundation of everything. We are here not only supporting the teachers\u2019 movement, but also to unite all the demands, all those communities that are unsatisfied with this government. We are coming together in a unified struggle with a broader, all-encompassing vision.” — Regina C\u00e9lia da Costa Coelho, Horto resident<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The teachers\u2019 strike, just like the removals and the deterioration of the quality of life in the favelas, are all related to this model of the city that emphasizes the market instead of the people that live in the city. \u00a0With the strike, we are seeing violent police repression, the criminalization of social movements, teachers and activists being sent to jail, all of this is involved in this [model], which is the close relationship between the State and private enterprise, and the lack of respect that the State is showing its population, especially in the provision of basic services.” — Vin\u00edcius Neves, teacher at a municipal school in\u00a0Mar\u00e9<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We are here because we want to strengthen the teachers\u2019 struggle and take the opportunity to express that we cannot stand any more removals being carried out by Mayor Eduardo Paes, along with [Governor] S\u00e9rgio Cabral. We are united across various favelas, acting together and alongside the teachers… Education is being jeopardized in our country. Eduardo Paes wants to impose a system which would privatize and impair the education system. This is why the teachers are fighting. \u00a0It is not just about the ‘Career Plan,’ it is for quality education.” — Noemia Magalh\u00e3es, member of\u00a0National Movement of\u00a0Housing Vindication (MNLM)<\/a>, a Duque de Caxias resident.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Here [at this protest] there are teachers from the city, state and federal schools, expressing to the government that we are unsatisfied with the way education is being structured and organized. Students from favelas receive an education with very little infrastructure. For example, in the two high schools where I teach, the Internet doesn\u2019t work, the computers are terrible. I teach foreign languages and I don’t even have equipment to play a CD. Teachers have to work in more than one school which lowers their income and causes them not to have a strong relationship with the students or the school. My classrooms have 40 students, there is very precarious infrastructure in the schools.” — Rubi Merino, teacher in Rio de Janeiro state public schools in\u00a0Rocinha<\/a>\u00a0and Jardim Bot\u00e2nico<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

We consider education to be fundamental, it is the foundation of society, so we are all here fighting for this foundation. If you have a quality educational system, you will have educated, enlightened people. People who can question. This is our objective here: \u00a0it is not just our salaries, it is quality education.” — Regina Celia Rodrigues da Silva, a teacher in the state public school system<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post is a contribution to\u00a0Blog Action Day 2013\u00a0in which bloggers around the world reflect on this year\u2019s theme, Human Rights. Yesterday, Tuesday October 15, an estimated 20,000 people took to the streets in solidarity […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":11750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1333,335,336,1329],"tags":[1013,1012,280,397,783,11,884,919,18,1019,12,1018],"writer":[1020,1770],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11711","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-event-reports","8":"category-policies","9":"category-violations","10":"category-by-international-observers","11":"tag-blog-action-day","12":"tag-blog-action-day-2013-human-rights","13":"tag-complexo-da-mare","14":"tag-education","15":"tag-favela-nao-se-cala","16":"tag-forced-evictions","17":"tag-horto","18":"tag-mnlm","19":"tag-protest","20":"tag-right-to-education","21":"tag-rocinha","22":"tag-teachers-strike","23":"writer-courtney-allen-crumpler","24":"writer-kate-steiker-ginzberg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11711"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=11711"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=11711"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=11711"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=11711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}