University professors give five percent of salary for striking teachers

Primary and secondary teachers who have been truncated or they did not receive their February salary at all because they are on strike, they will receive financial assistance from university professors.

"The proposal that university teachers set aside five percent of their salaries for primary and secondary school teachers was accepted," Marija Draškić, a professor at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, told Vreme.

Solidarity

This initiative began on March 6, when many teachers were not paid at all, and some of them told "Vreme" that they felt abandoned and that it would mean that other public sectors and colleagues from the industry showed solidarity with them. They nevertheless called on the others to show solidarity - by going on strike themselves.

Certain university professors, such as Igor Simić from the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade, they told "Vreme" that "University professors should show solidarity with primary and secondary school teachers, and that they should join the strike", while Jelena Jerinić, MP and professor at the Faculty of Law, stated that a fund for teachers is one of the options.

The new president of the Forum of Belgrade High Schools previously told "Vreme" that other workers of the state sector "they should not pity the teachers, but join them in the strike".

Who got how much?

Some teachers, although they did not work all of February, received a 50-55 percent lower salary, but the amounts differ even among teachers from the same schools who had equal activities. They received between 24.000 and 26.000 dinars on average for the first part of their salary.

Colleagues from Čačak, a city where there is almost no school in operation, did not receive any salary at all, while the teachers from Novi Sad, who are on strike, received a total of 1.800 dinars, which is completely inexplicable, while some educators from Belgrade were paid about 11.000 dinars.

Those who worked part-time, for 30 minutes each, received a 15 percent salary reduction, but there are also examples that in some schools they received - a regular amount like last month.