With Tuesday's demonstration in Katowice, representatives of the teachers' Solidarity movement began the announced series of similar speeches throughout the country. In their petition to the Minister of National Education, trade unionists expect, among other things, raises, reform of education financing and suspension of program changes.
During the Katowice demonstration, the chairman of the regional section of education and upbringing of Solidarity in Katowice and the press spokesman of the national secretariat of education and science of Solidarity, Lesław Ordon, handed the petition to the Silesian vice-curator of education, Elżbieta Modrzewska.
Appearing before the Education Board in Katowice, the chairman pointed out that a beginner teacher's basic salary is PLN 5,154, i.e. PLN 3,845 on hand. An appointed teacher with 10 years of work experience and an allowance for upbringing has a gross salary of PLN 6,141, and a certified teacher – with at least 20 years of experience – PLN 7,753, i.e. a net salary of approximately PLN 5,615.
– And this is more or less the picture of today's Polish education. A certified teacher with 20 years of work experience has approximately 5.6 thousand PLN in your pocket. We want to change this. Solidarity's motion, supported three years ago and by other trade union headquarters, states that the remuneration should be related to the national average in Poland, Ordon noted.
He presented a calculation that if a teacher's salary was linked to the average, a trainee teacher would receive PLN 6,370, an appointed teacher would receive PLN 8,600, and a certified teacher would receive PLN 11,200.
The topic related to the withdrawal of homework by the Ministry of National Education was raised by Bożena Słomka, a teacher of grades 1-3 of primary school. As she emphasized, thanks to them, early school teachers were able to motivate students and teach them to be systematic.
– We are helpless. I think we need to demand the return of homework. When I teach at school, I'm shocked that children don't have a proper pencil grip, they don't know how to hold crayons properly, they don't know how to color, let alone read, count and write. Every teacher will say that certain material is covered in class, but in order to learn something, you have to practice and repeat it at home, Słomka noted.
In a petition addressed to the Minister of National Education, the educational Solidarity movement expresses concern about the deteriorating situation of education workers and the lack – in the opinion of the union – of real social dialogue on the part of the Ministry of National Education. In this situation, trade unionists formulated demands, the implementation of which, in their opinion, is necessary to ensure the stability of the education system and respect for the rights of its employees.
The key demand is a systemic increase in wages. Solidarity demands the introduction, from 2027, of a mechanism linking teachers' remuneration with the average remuneration in the enterprise sector, in relation to the basic salary, in the amount of: 100%. for a beginner teacher, 125 percent for the appointee and 150 percent for a graduate. The union emphasizes that this solution was supported by the majority of MPs in the subcommittee on changing the remuneration system and is the only real way to rebuild the prestige of the teaching profession.
Solidarity also demands a reform of the system of financing educational tasks, including increasing expenditure on education, guaranteeing the operation of small schools and ensuring timely payment of salaries. Trade unionists point out that the current model threatens to further degrade educational services and destabilize the work of schools.
The union would also like to “stop the chaotic program reforms.” “We oppose the abolition of subjects, arbitrary changes to the core curriculum and the reduction of educational content and hours. These changes are introduced without consulting teachers, experts and parents, and will result in a decrease in the quality of education and an increase in teachers' burdens,” argues Solidarity.
The series of demands, called “Respect for the rights of education workers”, includes: the introduction of real pre-retirement protection and the restoration of previous rules for granting health leave, reform of the “professional liability system, which is currently repressive in nature” and real protection of the dignity and safety of teachers.
In terms of protecting employment and parents' rights, the union opposes limiting the employment of catechists “and actions violating the constitutional right of parents to raise their children in accordance with their own beliefs.”
Solidarity expects “the preservation of the proven education model.” It expresses “opposition to the ideological solutions imposed on Poland, including those practiced under the banner of universal design and the currently implemented inclusive education, which lead to a decline in the quality of teaching and overload of teachers.”
The petition did not include the issue of payments for overtime hours, as the Ministry of National Education withdrew the changes.
The union calls on the head of the Ministry of National Education for dialogue and implementation of the presented demands, warning that lack of response will result in intensified protest activities at the regional and national level.
On November 12, Solidarity began an action to flag schools, kindergartens and other educational institutions throughout the country, in opposition “to the government's disregard for the principles of social dialogue and the lack of systemic solutions regarding remuneration in this sector.” The protest action in this form is to last until December 20. (PAP)
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