Teachers gathered in SNP Square on January 25. (source: TASR)
Teachers and the public can meet in the Bratislava branch of Martinus bookshop in the morning and later in Artforum bookshop in the afternoon. There is also a meeting planned to take place in Martin (Žilina Region), according to the website of the Initiative of Slovak Teachers (ISU).
They also delivered an admonition to the government on January 26.
“We rebuke [the government] for repeated forgetting of promises, constant disturbing of the public with scandals, deliberate harm to teachers’ reputation, bullying and intimidation at schools, politicisation of education, disturbing the relations among teachers, headmasters and parents, truancy and unexcused absence in parliament,” Viktor Križo of ISU said, as quoted by the Sme daily.
As many as 11,642 teachers from 776 schools are currently registered for the strike. Some secondary schools in Trnava Region ended their strike on January 26. Of altogether 1,845 teachers at 51 schools in the region, only 88 teachers at six schools continue striking. On January 25, 200 teachers protested, the SITA newswire reported.
The strike was ended at three secondary schools in Dunajská Streda and one grammar school in Trnava. Also several primary schools announced they will not strike, SITA wrote.
On the other hand, the number of schools in Liptov region increased, after two schools from Ružomberok (Žilina Region) and one school in Liptovský Mikuláš joined the strike, the Sme daily reported on its website.
“We are surveying and verifying the current numbers of closed schools, and will know the exact number during the day,” Branislav Kočan of ISU said, as quoted by Sme, adding that the changes are not big.
According to the Education Ministry, 151 schools, i.e. 2.25 percent of all schools in Slovakia, are closed on January 26.
Meanwhile, the Academy of Performing Arts (VŠMU) in Bratislava expressed its support for protesting teachers. They organised the screening of cartoons for January 26 and 27 (from 10:00-12:00) for children from kindergartens and primary schools. The screening will be accompanied with expert introductions and discussion with the filmmakers, who will be talking about how a cartoon is made, what technologies are used, and what the production contains. If the strike continues, the VŠMU plans to open creative workshops, as reported by SITA.
Some independent MPs, who are members of the non-parliamentary Skok party, have meanwhile called on their opposition colleagues again to support the convention of a special parliamentary session, Sme wrote.
