Ex-education minister calls on Government not to close schools over energy crisis

Ex-education minister Branislav Groehling has called on the Government not to close schools due to increased energy charges, stressing that the Cabinet should be particularly concerned with the education of children. This according to Freedom and Solidarity spokesman Ondrej Sprlak. The former minister stated that the idea to save money on energy by sending kids home from school is ‘absurd’ and ‘unacceptable’. He added that only a minimum amount of money would be saved, family life would become more difficult for parents, and the ultimate losers would be children and their education. Groehling stressed the need to respond to a request from schools for assistance with increased energy prices amounting to €56.8 million. If this amount is not fully met, he said, the schools will go into debt, meaning they can no longer apply for EU funds or funding from the recovery plan. So far, the Finance Ministry has released a total of €30 million to compensate schools in regions for the increased energy costs, and has signaled that it will also deal with a request for financial aid for universities for the same reason.