Achieved results have been worth the strike - school directors

RIGA - The achieved results have been worth the strike, said several school directors in a conversation with LETA. 

The head of the Latvian Education Managers Association, director of Sigulda State Gymnasium Rudolfs Kalvans told LETA that the education process has returned to usual after the strike and teachers are focusing on the upcoming examinations.

Kalvans said that the strike has achieved a positive result, but the Education and Science Ministry still has to provide information about calculations of the allocated funding to remove all concerns about whether the strike demands have been met.

Meanwhile, other school administrations said that they did not understand why such extreme measures had to be taken to achieve that teachers' demands are met. Inta Kornejeva, the director of Liepaja Secondary School No.5 said that even though the protest activities promoted unity among teachers, she is ashamed that teachers have to go on strike to draw the government's attention to the situation in the sector because low wages is just one of the problems. There is also low quality of study materials and aging of teachers that should be tackled.

Laila Roga, the director of Zenta Maurina Grobina Secondary School voiced a similar opinion, saying that teachers at the age of retirement are considering leaving school. She also said that the allocated funding still is not enough to both balance out work load and increase wages. More accurate calculations still should be conducted.

As reported, the government plans to allocate another EUR 4.2 million to meet teachers' strike demands, Education and Science Minister Anda Caksa (New Unity) told LETA earlier.

This sum will be allocated in addition to the planned EUR 9,039,833 earmarked by the approved Cabinet of Ministers regulations on April 21. Financing will be used to increase wages also of those teachers whose rate is over the minimum wage.

LIZDA and the Education and Science Ministry by Monday evening were of different opinions whether the government has met the strike demands - the ministry said that financing has been allocated to increase the lowest wages, but the trade union insisted that all wages should be raised.

LETA also reported, several thousand education employees in Riga on Monday took part in a protest demonstration, demanding a "respectful and responsible" treatment. The teachers' demonstration was joined by many health care employees. The demonstration kicked off three days of a nationwide teachers' strike.