Nearly 79 pct of schools to take part in strike - union head
The head of the Polish Teachers' Union (ZNP), Sławomir Broniarz announced on Thursday that nearly 79 percent of schools and kindergartens in Poland "plan to take part in the protest, which is to start on April 8."
The highest percentage of schools and nursery schools declaring participation in the strike was reported in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province (northern Poland), (91 percent), while the lowest percentage was reported in the Podkarpackie province in the south-eastern part of the country (70 percent).
The Polish Teachers' Union (ZNP) and the Solidarity Union's teachers' branch started procedures on wage hike demands in January, and since then have been conducting referenda on strike actions among their members. In addition to a monthly pay rise of PLN 1,000 (EUR 233.1), unions want more career openings for teachers and changes in performance assessment criteria. Until now, talks between teacher unions and the government have brought no results.
If the strike goes ahead on April 8 as planned, it may clash with end of year school exams, including the April 10-12 lower secondary school final exams and the April 15-17 primary school final exams. Matura exams, required to start university-level education, are to begin on May 6.
On Monday, the Presidium of the "Dialog" Social Partnership Centre hosted a special debate on education attended by Deputy PM Beata Szydło, Education Minister Anna Zalewska, Family, Labour and Social Policy Minister Elżbieta Rafalska, the prime minister's and the president's aides Michał Dworczyk and Andrzej Dera, respectively, Deputy Finance Minister Filip Świtała, and members of the teachers' unions. Talks are to continue on Monday, April 1.
On Tuesday, PM Mateusz Morawiecki stressed that the government has repeatedly tried to meet teacher demands halfway. At the same time, he underlined that "the budget is not made of rubber," and declared that more outlays could be planned after more economic successes. He also appealed to teachers not to stage a strike during exams.
After a meeting with local government officials on Thursday, Broniarz appealed to deputy PM Beata Szydło to increase education subsidies in order to increase total spending on education.
Broniarz stressed that local governments could not even carry the burden of the pay rises, which were planned by the Education Ministry, and whose scope was not accepted by the ZNP.
He also underlined that there was a growing gap between education subsidies and local governments' spending on education. "In order to ease the conflict, it is necessary to increase education spending. This country cannot develop when education outlays are being reduced," he emphasised.
Marek Wójcik of the Union of Polish Cities said that according to the OECD, Poland's per capita spending on education totalled EUR 584 while the EU average was EUR 1,400. "There are countries which spend seven or eight times more," he added. (PAP)
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