Two months after last year's strikes, not all teachers can expect the higher salaries they were promised by the government, the Sme daily reported on Wednesday, January 30. Finance Minister Peter Kažimír promised teachers at elementary and secondary schools that their salaries would be increased, but local governments warned on Tuesday that due to new rules on re-allocation of resources, they cannot direct enough money towards salaries. Štefan Kandráč, the head of the education department in Košice Region, said that two-thirds of local schools cannot guarantee salaries even at last year’s level, Sme reported.
Education Minister Dušan Čaplovič is refusing to change the rules, claiming that only regions which have not closed redundant schools or dismissed redundant teachers have encountered such problems.
However, the Hospodárske Noviny and Pravda dailies reported that the Finance Ministry will now give municipalities an additional €4.6 million to cover pay rises for teachers and other school employees, based on negotiations between the finance and education ministers and representatives of the Association of Towns and Villages of Slovakia (ZMOS). The government previously allocated €68 million in new education funding to cover a 5-percent hike in the salaries of all school employees.
Sources: Sme, Hospodárske Noviny, Pravda
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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