In many countries around the world teachers are being persecuted by autocratic governments or caught up in civil wars or religious and ethnic conflicts where they’re seen as legitimate targets. They’re harassed, arrested, imprisoned, forced into exile, denied basic academic freedom or the right to join a trades union, sometimes even killed - and it’s a subject which doesn’t usually hit the headlines. This film offers a global survey of the plight of teachers, featuring case studies from a range of countries including Afghanistan, Thailand, Colombia and Ethiopia. The film explores why teachers are persecuted and looks at a range of possible solutions. Teachers often represent a large educated group, close to the community and more liable to be drawn upon to lead civil society. As a result, they can be perceived as a threat to perpetrators of oppressive regimes and teachers’ unions, often forming the biggest unions in such countries, are the most likely to oppose tyrannical rule.

Video Series: Persecuted Teachers
Release Date 2007