{{Public school teachers in Togo refused a government call to return to their classrooms on Monday, closed for a week amid student protests which left two dead in the west African nation.}}<\/p>\n
Government had ordered teachers to resume work on Monday, a week after closing all primary and secondary schools, citing considerable damage caused during protests.<\/p>\n
But only a few heeded the call, with many teachers urging students who showed up for classes to go back home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot return to classes under the present situation. We demand action against those who killed those two pupils,\u201d Cossi Adjikou, a teacher in a public school, told media.<\/p>\n
Thousands of students first took to the streets two weeks ago in support of teachers and health workers staging a three-day strike to demand a 100 percent pay rise.<\/p>\n
But government\u2019s move to close the schools only further inflamed the protesters, who again took to the streets a week ago, clashing with security forces in several areas.<\/p>\n
In the northern town of Dapaong a 12-year-old boy was shot dead by police trying to control a crowd in the north of the country.<\/p>\n
Local newspapers reported a 22-year-old student had died from \u201ccardiac arrest\u201d in hospital as doctors treated him for wounds sustained during the protest.<\/p>\n
Talks between government and the teachers\u2019 union STT, are expected to resume on Monday.<\/p>\n
Togo has seen waves of protests in recent months, including those led by an opposition and civil society coalition demanding sweeping political reforms and the resignation of President Faure Gnassingbe.<\/p>\n
Gnassingbe was installed by the military in 2005 after the death of his father Gnassingbe Eyadema who ruled Togo for 38 years with an iron fist.<\/p>\n
{AFP}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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