Many teachers may not return after quarantine – they escape from schools across the country without surviving

“There were several teachers who found out that there would be distance learning in the fall, so they chose another path before leaving and dropped out of school,” said Raimondas Dambrauskas, director of the Panevėžys J. Balčikonis Gymnasium.

According to the principal, older teachers were intimidated by distance education.

“Now we are also asking teachers if they would like to receive lessons or work if there was an opportunity. The answer was: if there is distance education, we will not retire, but if it is normal, maybe one class or several lessons we could have”, He said.

Open gaps are filled by attracting staff from other schools.

“Currently, I say, we are translating in such a way that we invite the best teachers in the city in certain specialties, who can work in other schools, thus attracting them to the gym,” explained R. Dambrauskas.

The education union says teachers are fleeing schools across the country during the lockdown.

“Based on the fact that we have consultations every week, we can conclude that teachers are preparing for change and some teachers will be leaving the education system,” explained Egidijus Milešinas, president of the Education and Science Union.

He added that some conclusions can be drawn that some teachers are tired of continuing to work remotely.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (ŠMSM) estimates that 7 out of 9 teachers will leave school in the next decade, as one in five teachers is 60 years or older.

“This shortage of teachers is not yet felt so strongly, but in ten years it will be necessary to replace 77%. teachers. This is the situation we are facing now, it is really very tense, because in five years a large part will have to retire ”, commented Gintautas Jakštas, Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sports.

The situation is especially bad, according to the districts of Lrytas.tv, Birštonas, Visaginas, Skuodas, where a third of the teachers are of retirement age.

An education expert says the situation is due to salaries paid to beginning teachers.

“The main reasons why the start in the teaching profession is quite bleak. Really low salaries, small workloads, you can expect between 600-700 euros of salary “in hand”. Nobody offers you anything else. If they receive an offer to go to a better tutoring or do not work in the profession, it is more acceptable for them, because they can earn double, “explained Gintaras Serafinas, editor-in-chief of the magazine” Reitingai. “

The ministry promises changes for teachers in the near future.

We have to talk about the attractiveness of the profession, we usually reduce the attractiveness of the profession to the size of the salary, but it is not the only component, career opportunities, self-fulfillment, improvement in the workplace, work environment and so on are also important. therefore, in the program we have provided a comprehensive package of measures aimed at increasing the attractiveness of the teaching profession, ”said G. Jakštas.

Almost 30 thousand people currently work in general education institutions. educators.

Only elementary classes can return

At the moment, only primary school children and their teachers have the right to return to schools in Lithuania, if they have agreed to allow them to be investigated using the cumulative method. Vaccines for preschool, preschool and primary teachers have also been launched.

The Government led by Ingrida Šimonytė on March 10. decided to allow another 25 municipalities to organize the educational process in a mixed way in the educational institutions of their choice.

As the Prime Minister said after the Government meeting, it is very important that from 2021. February 22 to March 31, 2021 schools with a mixed education would guarantee periodic tests of teachers to detect COVID-19. “So far, there is an opening through the cumulative method, which I think will have to be used in schools with many children.

Other solutions may be available in smaller schools, but this would require agreeing that teachers who have not been vaccinated should be tested regularly. We really need to know that it is safe to work, so that the teachers know that it is safe to work, ”said I. Šimonytė after the government meeting on Wednesday.

“Perhaps with other requirements and other algorithms, those schools could start operating a little later. However, we will address this when we decide on expanding the possible activities of individual municipalities. Primary education is probably one of the most relevant issues that are being considered in this context, ”said the Prime Minister.

On Wednesday, the government decided to change some of the rules for the quarantine introduced. According to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers headed by I. Šimonytė, for some municipalities in the educational institutions of their choice from 2021. February 22 to 2021 March 31 Primary education will be allowed on a mixed basis, with continuous tests COVID- 19 and security requirements.

This procedure has so far been applied at the Prince Gediminas Progymnasium in Vilnius. The approved list included Akmenė district, Alytus city, Birštonas, Biržai district, Kaunas city, Kazlų Rūda, Klaipėda city, Klaipėda district, Kretinga district, Marijampolė, Mažeikiai district , Pakruojis district, Palanga city, Panevėžys district, Plungškis district, Radviližys district. Municipalities of the Raseiniai district, Rietavas, Šakiai district, Šalčininkai district, Šiauliai city, Širvintos district, Švenčionys district, Vilkaviškis district, Vilnius city and Vilnius district.