Kazimir: Solution to Teachers' Different Living Costs among Possibilities
Bratislava, September 22 (TASR) – There are two possible ways of attracting more young motivated and high-quality teachers to the education sector – the state can either focus on supporting young teachers or on settling the problem of variable living costs, said Finance Minister Peter Kazimir (Smer-SD) following Wednesday’s (September 21) Cabinet session.
Kazimir pointed to the fact that the current system doesn’t reflect different living costs when it comes to salaries. “This issue probably won’t unite teachers, but it’s a way of indexing, for example, the salaries of teachers in Bratislava, as they have higher living costs. I admit that it probably isn’t easy for a music teacher to support a family in Bratislava, unlike in Trebisov (Kosice region),” said Kazimir, who added that talks with Education, Science, Research and Sport Minister Peter Plavcan (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) on supporting young starting teachers are currently under way.
Kazimir also commented on the issue of teachers’ salaries. “The salaries of our teachers grew by 10 percent between September 2015-September 2016, i.e. in twelve months. First they went up by 4 percent based on collective bargaining and then by 6 percent based on a political agreement between the coalition parties,” said Kazimir. This is an increase of over €100 per month on average. “This isn’t my money, this isn’t the Government’s money, this is taxpayers’ money and that of parents, who are again being exposed to a kind of hocus-pocus about what is enough at some schools,” added Kazimir.
