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Doesn’t believe the government’s promises
Parliamentarians Vilija Targamadzė and representatives of education unions discussed the problems of teachers at a press conference “Teachers, professors and researchers: working conditions and remuneration” held in the Seimas on Tuesday.
The recently signed agreement of the political parties on Lithuanian education policy specifies the goal that by the end of 2024, the average salary of teachers will be 130 percent. average wage in the country, anticipating sustainable wage growth after 2024.
It is also observed that by the end of 2024, the average salary of professors, researchers and other researchers will be 150%. the national average wage, anticipating sustainable wage growth after 2024.
Still, the educational community emphasizes that the salary should be increased not from September 1, 2022, as promised, but from January 1, 2022. This would cover at least part of their losses during the quarantine and meet expectations. legitimate.
Aldona Kindurienė, president of the Solidarumas science and education union, said that the main reason for the teacher shortage threatening Lithuania is the poor working conditions of teachers.
“It is preschool, preschool and secondary education. Today’s educator is responsible for many activities that are not always directly visible. Therefore, your current salary does not fully reflect the work and qualifications performed.
The government is making fun of him when he says that teachers’ salaries will increase from September next year. We are currently negotiating a collective agreement and we demand that it be raised as of January, since the Government owes a lot of extra work to teachers in distance education, ”said the president of the Solidarity Union of Education and Science.
According to her, the professor currently earns about 800-900 euros “in his hands”. Education, Science and Sports Minister Jurgita Šiugždinienė said teachers’ salaries would rise by at least 10 percent.
“Teachers get 10, 20, 30 euros a year. Is there no mockery here? You put in a lot of work and you get 30 euros,” said A. Kindurienė.
According to her, the situation is a little better in big cities, because a teacher can work in several schools, but in districts or villages, students simply do not have teachers of some subjects.
“There is a shortage of natural science and primary science teachers, not to mention the lack of teachers in preschool and preschool education,” commented A. Kindurienė.
Believe the crisis will only deepen
Egidijus Milešinas, president of the Lithuanian Science and Education Union, said that if the government does not provide funds in the budget to increase teachers’ salaries, education will become an even bigger headache for those in power. .
“Education will be a much bigger problem for this Government at the end of its term than managing the COVID-19 pandemic or the migrants flowing into Lithuania. Before every election, we hear that when we come, we will first deal with the issues. in the field of education, so this government is no exception, we have heard the promises and now we hear the same thing again: that there is no money.
I do not agree with that categorically, and I think that what is lacking is not money, but political will, courage and desire, ”said E. Milešinas.
According to him, teachers who have worked in educational institutions for many years do not see any glimpses, so the problems will only deepen in the future.
“And in a few years there will be no time to deal with them, so the children themselves will suffer,” added the president of the Lithuanian Education and Science Union.
It was also supported by Andrius Navickas, president of the Lithuanian Education Workers’ Union, who said that solving educational problems is more reminiscent of a passing train when it comes to solving problems in retrospect.
“Such a situation worries everyone: the negotiations on the budget for the educational community do not promise anything good,” Navickas said.
Jūratė Adrija Šidlauskienė, representative of the Union of Directors of Educational Institutions of Lithuania, explained that due to the lack of teachers in the districts, school directors are forced to ask for help from already retired teachers.
“There is a catastrophic shortage of teachers, especially in rural areas. Managers face enormous challenges in finding teachers, offering them a large enough workload and consequently a salary.
Distance education has taken away a number of older teachers. Now we are facing a huge shortage of teachers, many managers are forced to ask teachers of retirement age to go back to work, ”said A. Šidlauskienė.
President of the Trade Union Association of Higher Education Institutions of Lithuania prof. Sigitas Vaitkevičius, in turn, stated that the situation in higher education institutions is also bad.
“We face two big problems: we do not have funding for science. The fact that the ministry has allocated scientific funds is one, but those funds go to the laboratories to maintain, they go to various purchases, but they are not allocated to support the scientific product, today financed by a scientist.
Imagine a factory where people work and a product is manufactured in it. He gives you a conveyor belt, a job, pays you a salary and tells you: bring your own materials and make a product. This is the situation we have today in higher education ”, compared S. Vaitkevičius.
According to him, researchers work not only in high school but also at home, sometimes even at night.
“To do scientific work, we often sit in the evenings, communicate with teams of scientists, and all the equipment is bought on our own,” he explained.
