“We see now that the Ministry of Education and Science is proposing a 10 percent increase from January and 10 percent from September. Such financing raises very serious and reasonable doubts as to whether the promised 130% will be achieved next year. the salary level of average-wage teachers in general,” the adviser told Žinių radio on Tuesday.
According to her, doubts are strengthened by the fact that the Bank of Lithuania and the European Commission predict a higher salary growth next year than the Ministry of Finance.
“It is significant enough – the Bank of Lithuania says that the increase can be over 7 percent and more, and the Ministry of Finance – 6.5 percent,” said I. Segalovičienė.
According to her, on Monday the Minister of Education Gintautas Jakštas made “such incoherent statements about this indicator” that it is “perhaps somewhat inappropriate”, further reducing confidence in whether this commitment will really be achieved.
“The president calls for self-evaluation and sees that the opposition has made proposals in this area, it is appropriate to take this into account,” said the adviser.
The opposition factions intend to support the Labor Party’s proposal to increase teachers’ salaries next year by more than is currently provided for in the state budget under consideration.
G. Jakštas will present the 2024 education budget project at the Martynas Mažvydas library on Tuesday. As reported by the ministry, the minister will also present what is being done to improve the working conditions of pedagogues and how the problems raised by teachers are solved.
According to the ministry, it is expected that 496 million will be allocated to education next year. euros, or 14 percent, more than this year. The most additional funds, 352.6 million. euros, planned to be used to increase the salaries of pedagogues, teachers, researchers and non-academic workers.
According to the data of the Ministry, it is planned that the salaries of teachers and other pedagogical workers will increase by one-fifth during the next year by increasing the salary twice – from January 1 and from September 1.
In the next year’s budget, the government proposes to provide for the growth of teachers’ wages in two stages: from January – 10 percent, and a similar proportion from September – so that the average teacher’s salary reaches 130 percent. average national wage.
However, this proposal does not satisfy the trade union of Lithuanian education workers led by Andriaus Navickas, who on Wednesday intends to resume the strike that started at the end of September and was stopped in mid-October. The trade union also disagrees with the ministry regarding the structure of the workload and reducing the number of students in classes.
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2024-08-17 04:46:32
