The “Teachers in Solidarity” community has initiated today, August 16, a petition to state institutions, asking for a 50% increase in salaries for education staff, and double salaries for auxiliary staff. The petition will be submitted to relevant institutions on September 5, after a signature collection period. The initiative group hope that in a month, i.e. until October 5 – International Teacher’s Day, the authorities will come back with a positive response to their requests, IPN reports.
Natalia Bzovaia, founder of the community, said the petition requests are non-negotiable. “After last year’s 11% increase, after the protests that have been organized, this year on September 1 we expected something more, but we only got an 8% indexing increase, translating into 200-300 lei, which doesn’t help us in any way. We are reaching a point, in peaceful times, when we can’t afford to feed our children, and that is revolting,” said Natalia Bzovaia.
The community founder says there are over 2000 vacant positions in education, 7000 teachers having left the system in the past seven years: “A teacher with secondary education earns 3289 lei, and non-teaching staff earn 1170. This salary is smaller than the heating bill in winter.”
Sergiu Bejenari, ex-professor in a rural settlement, says that teachers face a tough reality. He considers that teachers should earn as much as MPs, since they shoulder generations of future country leaders.
Ana Turtureanu, a teacher in Chișcăreni, Sângerei, mother of four, says that, regretfully, teachers are fed mere promises year after year, and when they drop their tolerance levels, they are obstructed by certain institutions, which shouldn’t happen. “We want to be paid according to the work we do,” the teacher mentioned. She urged teachers to sign the petition, to overcome their fears and step outside the line, to demand what is rightfully theirs.
