Strike by Madrid secondary school teachers goes into 4th day

Secondary school teachers from state schools in the Community of Madrid held a fourth day of strike action this Tuesday. The teachers are protesting the decision of the regional educational authority to increase their classroom hours from 18 to 20, as part of a series of spending cuts. Many are also not satisfied with the fact that 3,200 classroom helpers in the capital have not have their contracts renewed for the new educational year. Unions have described the cuts as "a brutal attack on public education," and claim they will mean less tutorial hours and recuperation classes for struggling students, while adding that physics, chemistry and biology laboratories will also be closed. Teachers say the cuts of around 80 million euros mean they will offer a worse service to students, adding they now have to give classes in subjects other than their own, affecting the level of education the students receive. The first three days of strike action in Madrid saw over 65 percent of teachers answer the strike call, while over 40,000 teachers, students and parents took part in two separate demonstrations in the capital. Tuesday's strike has seen 72 percent of teachers taking part in the strike according to unions, while the Madrid regional authority says that only 32 percent of teachers have stayed off work.