I will not speculate whether the school unions will go on strike, said Minister of Education Mikuláš Bek (STAN) after a meeting with representatives of school unions and the association of school principals. They discussed the budget for regional education, which the Ministry of Education sent to schools and which, according to trade unionists, does not respect previous agreements. According to him, 2,500 full-time positions are not covered. Bek said on Sunday that in the coming days the school representatives will also meet Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS), because the whole government would have to decide on a solution. According to the minister, there is no reason for the school unions to strike. 800 million crowns are needed to solve the unfilled positions, he said, adding that the coalition’s meeting on strengthening the regional education budget will take place on Tuesday.
Bek rejected the criticism of the trade unions, because according to him, some of the actors misinterpret some of the rules that are part of the budget breakdown. According to the Ministry of Education (MŠMT), the budget for state kindergartens, primary and secondary schools is 4.97 billion more than last year, amounting to 187.87 billion crowns. According to him, the entire coalition must agree to strengthen the regional education budget, Bek said after negotiations with the unions.
The dispute mainly concerns the financing of jobs for non-pedagogues, such as janitors, cooks or IT workers. Bek says he has fulfilled his commitment that the schools will only lose money for positions that are vacant anyway. However, it turned out that there are 2,500 real employees in 7,500 unfunded positions, of which 500 can be financed from the regional reserve. According to Bek, a total of 2,500 positions are not covered, of which 500 can be financed from the regional reserve. Therefore, the minister wants to discuss the remaining 2,000 non-teaching staff positions with the prime minister and school representatives. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, the minister said today.
Bek sees no reason for the strike, he argues, among other things, the ratio of 80,000 employees in education to 2,000 unpaid full-time positions.
At the same time, Bek pointed out that the Ministry of Education does not have personnel authority over schools. According to him, the state allocates a package of money to schools, it does not decide how it is destined for specific jobs. Directors decide on them.
