Education organisations sign declaration to be part of government manifesto

On Wednesday, teachers' trade unions and other organisations active in education signed a joint declaration on the sector. They plan to present it to political parties running in the March general election, suggesting it as a basis for the future government manifesto in education. "This declaration has one common goal - to persuade the Government that will emerge from the general election to finally start dealing with education as a matter of priority," said teachers trade union head Pavel Ondek. Among other points, the declaration contains a demand that all powers involved in running and funding public schools should come exclusively under the remit of the education ministry after the election - unlike today, wherein primary and secondary schools come under the regional governments. When it comes to funding, they insist on allocating at least 6 percent of the GDP by the end of the next electoral term (2020). Meanwhile, teachers' salaries should be increased in order to reach at least 80 percent of salaries received by other people with university education by the end of 2020.