Which schools will strike on 8 April?
All primary schools and some municipal preschools have expressed their readiness to strike. The information was provided to us by Deputy Mayor Kornel Filipowicz. We do not yet have reliable information from the county authorities. We are patiently awaiting a response from Alicja Krzyszczak, head of the education department. According to the map published on niedlachaosuwszkole.pl , the following secondary schools in Bolesławiec have reported their readiness to strike: I and II General Secondary Schools, “Handlówka,” “Elektornik,” “Budowlanka,” ZSOiZ and the Special School.
– Referendums have now been held in municipal schools and preschools – says Kornel Filipowicz. – In all these institutions, the staff expressed their willingness to take part in the strike. We are talking about 70%–90% of people participating in the referendums. Of those who took part in the referendums, as many as 90% expressed their willingness to participate in the strike. This does not mean that these people will actually join the strike. We will find out who will strike on the morning of 8 April, when strike committees appear at the institutions: they will collect signatures from those on strike and submit them to the principals. At this point, we really do not know how many schools will strike. Therefore, we can speak only of readiness to strike. – The deputy mayor explains.
If the strike takes place, what should parents do with their children?
The deputy mayor assures us that schools will provide care during the strike for children who need it. The situation will certainly remain under control. Schools will be open on that day and on subsequent days of any strike. There will be no lessons, but other substitute activities will be organised.
– We are already preparing for that day – Kornel Filipowicz reassures us. – Together with the county authorities, we have established a “strike headquarters” to prepare technically. On my side, it includes representatives of schools and preschools and of the education department. The point is to gather information as quickly as possible about the situation in the schools. Principals are awaiting swift news from the Polish Teachers’ Union. We are, of course, also aware of the approaching examinations. The first of them, the lower-secondary school examination, begins on 10 April, three days after the scheduled strike date; a week later there is the eighth-grader examination, and the matura examinations take place at the beginning of May. By then, of course, the situation may change; we do not know how long the strike will last, if it begins at all. – The deputy mayor says.
The local government stands in solidarity with teachers
Kornel Filipowicz emphasises that the teachers’ strike, with its demands for pay rises, is entirely understandable. He also speaks about the broader perspective of the problems faced by the local government due to the outrageous underfunding of subsidies for teachers’ salaries, which must be supplemented from the city budget.
– We understand the teachers’ strike – says Kornel Filipowicz. – In the background is the disastrous system of education financing, and here I mean the city budget, the unequal treatment of entities in the education sector, above all in subsidies for non-public preschools. That is why we are trying to create a coalition for changing the way local governments are financed by the state. This concerns subsidies that are underestimated. At present, our subsidy is insufficient to pay teachers’ salaries. Until recently, this seemed inconceivable to us. We have been struggling with this for several years and have to allocate money from the city budget for this purpose. Preschools are also striking. We do not receive subsidies for preschool teachers—we receive them only for six-year-olds. There are numerous issues that place this strike in such a context: on the one hand, the teachers’ financial demands, which we understand; on the other, the outrageous issue of underestimated subsidies. The government’s disastrous attitude towards change. Minister Zalewska’s announcements fail to convince because they are presented in a kind of frenzy that is heading towards disaster rather than solving the problem. – The deputy mayor concludes.
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