Uruguayan teachers go on 24-hour strike to protest attacks by parents

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Teachers in this South American country are going on a 24-hour strike to protest a wave of physical attacks on educators by students’ mothers and fathers.

The local teachers union called the work stoppage on Wednesday to draw attention to six attacks since the current school year began in March in the capital Montevideo and other cities.

In the most recent attack, a woman punched a school director in the face on Tuesday for having called a doctor to examine her son for behavioural problems. The director of the school in Montevideo reportedly called the child’s parents beforehand, but they reportedly refused to come to the school.