The Slovak Teachers Initiative announced on Tuesday that it will deliver an open letter about the violating of fundamental rights to President Andrej Kiska, as well as the department of human rights protection in regional education at the Education Ministry, the Ombudswoman Jana Dubovcová, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Strasbourg, and the National Centre for Human Rights. The letter complains about the intimidation of teachers and describes cases of intimidation in Slovak schools, informed Viktor Krizo of the Slovak Teachers Initiative.
The Education Ministry however has not registered a single case of teachers being intimidated by the management of any schools. The Regional Education Division, Protection of Rights did not receive any similar motion either, according to Education Minister Juraj Draxler.
The ministry rebuffed the accusation of intimidation by the Teachers Initiative. "The fact that the number of schools closed due to the strike was reported can't be considered as intimidation", stated the ministry.
In association with the ongoing strike of teachers Prime Minister Robert Fico stated on Tuesday that in the public administration, teachers got the highest pay rise in 2012 - 2016. In this period, teachers' salaries have grown by 22 percent, he says. The prime minister highlighted that from a total of 6,724 schools, 179 schools which participated in Monday's strike closed, representing 2.66 percent. On Tuesday, 151 schools remained closed, accounting for 2.25 percent of the total number of schools.
Education Minister Juraj Draxler thanked teachers from schools that hadn't joined the strike. "I want to thank teachers from the 98 percent of schools that continue in normal education", said Draxler.
