A wave of industrial action has hit the Russian education system as teachers join public sector protests about unpaid salaries and cuts in facilities.

As up to 30,000 university lecturers, school teachers and students join a protest march in Moscow, colleagues in the regions have been taking part in a day of action in defence of state education.

In the Arkhangelsk region of northern Russia, school teachers said they would not hold graduation exams until they received the back pay and holiday pay they were owed.

A local trade union leader, Vladimir Manushkin, said some teachers had yet to receive their January salaries. The amount owing to teachers in the region was 65.8m roubles (£6.54m), and another 93m roubles (£9.25m) were needed for holiday pay, he said.

In the Lenin district of Volgograd, teachers from 16 secondary schools and five nurseries blocked traffic on the Volgograd-Astrakhan highway for an hour.

Yelena Baidova, chairwoman of the local trade union council, said the decision to take such direct action was made after local authorities failed to respond to warnings about "the deplorable financial situation of public education workers" in the area.

The state's wage debt to the Lenin district's teachers amounts to 4m roubles (£400,000), while expenses claims for the purchase of items such as school books have not been made for nearly two years. The regional trade union council says that the Volgograd region is one of 10 Russian regions where wages for 1997 are still owed, while debts for the current year are quickly accumulating.

Teachers in the Siberian republic of Buryatiya took a less militant line. Lessons at schools were interrupted for 15 to 30 minutes while teachers explained their demands to their pupils.

Government decree

Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Sysuyev has attempted to calm the situation by announcing a government decree giving financial assistance to the regions where the situation is especially serious. The payment of holiday allowances to teachers is a central part of the package.

"The government will do its utmost for the teachers to go on a holiday in a good mood," said Mr Sysuyev.

The Moscow demonstration, designed to be the centrepiece of the all-Russia demonstration in defence of the education system, culminates in a rally outside the Government House.

It was sparked by the government's proposed reorganisation of the higher education system, which will see cuts in subject departments, the imposition of charges for students using university facilities, and a reduction in the number of scholarships for students from poorer backgrounds.

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