From Voice Of America

Moroccan police used water cannons Thursday to disperse thousands of young protesting teachers in Rabat, according to witnesses and a video posted online.

Teachers have been staging protests and striking to demand an end to renewable contracts in favor of permanent jobs that offer civil service benefits, including better pensions.

The Education Ministry said last month that teachers who had instigated a strike would be fired along with trainees who joined them, further enraging them.

Morocco, which has avoided the turmoil seen by other countries during and after the Arab Spring of 2011, regularly sees protests, though they rarely draw several thousand people or involve confrontations with police.