ZAGREB ZAGREB, Dec 6 (Hina) - Around 300 secondary school teachers gathered in St. Mark's Square in downtown Zagreb to protest against the government's policy towards secondary school employees.
ZAGREB, Dec 6 (Hina) - Around 300 secondary school teachers
gathered in St. Mark's Square in downtown Zagreb to protest against
the government's policy towards secondary school employees. #L#
Members of the Independent Union of Employees in Secondary Schools
believe that the 2003 budget is neither developmental nor socially
sensitive or fair with regard to education.
They claim that despite an increase in education funds, the
salaries of secondary school teachers will not increase next year
because of an increase in the Gross Domestic Product and
inflation.
By staging the so-called protest of silence in front of the
parliament the unionists urged MPs who at the time were debating
amendments to the budget to adopt amendments increasing their
salaries.
"We expect MPs to treat education as a development resource because
citizens have the right to quality education for their children,"
union leader Andrija Puljevic said. Investing in knowledge is the
only way for Croatia to leave the current recession, he added.
The unionists will this afternoon stage an hour-long protest in
secondary schools and dormitories.
The Ministry of Education and Sports has described the protest as
unnecessary, stating that disagreements between the government and
unions should be solved with talks.
(hina) rml