According to data published on the website of the Slovak Teachers Initiative 11,423 teachers from 728 schools have signed up for an unlimited fully-fledged strike which began on Monday. Around 300 schools stayed closed.Teachers demand their salaries be increased in the year 2016 by €140 per month and in 2017 by additional €90, they also request additional investment in equipment in various schools worth €400 million, and a change of the system of continuing education. Protesting teachers met on SNP Square in Bratislava at 11.00 a.m. Katarína Richterová reported from the scene of the ongoing protests.
Topical issue
Máte problém s prehrávaním? Nahláste nám chybu v prehrávači.
On Sunday the Education Minister for SMER-SD Juraj Draxler stated for the public broadcaster RTVS that the teachers have no support for their actions and they will moreover face pressure from the parents, who have to find alternative programs for their kids due to schools being closed. He also questioned the legality of the entire action. "This initiative hasn't been supported by any teachers' organisation; none take an active part in it. They are alone in it and therefore they cannot accomplish anything. Nobody will negotiate with them."
Over the weekend this refusal rhetoric was also chosen by the top representatives of the state from SMER-SD, namely Prime Minister Robert Fico and Parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini, who claim that the legislative process has been closed, and they cannot do more for teachers by March 5 (the date of the elections).
