Polish teachers urged to suspend strike as high school exams near
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
24.04.2019 08:00
Poland’s government has called on teachers to suspend a pay strike as key high school exams approach.
Teachers stage a rally in front of the education ministry in central Warsaw on Tuesday. Photo: PAP/Rafał Guz
The appeal comes as union leaders on Tuesday decided against ending the more than two-week-long protest to demand substantial pay raises.
“High school leaving exams … are what matters most now," government spokesman Joanna Kopcińska said on Tuesday.
She added that the government would do everything to ensure that the exams go ahead as planned.
Earlier in the day teachers staged a rally outside the education ministry in central Warsaw. Two unions said they would not join an upcoming debate on the state of education in the country.
The Polish prime minister last week invited unions, politicians, experts, local government authorities, parents and teachers to take part in “roundtable talks" at the National Stadium in Warsaw on Friday, April 26.
He said the ongoing protest by teachers could only be resolved through an in-depth analysis of the state of education in the country.
He called on teachers’ unions to end the strike.
Thousands of schools across the country have cancelled classes after teachers on April 8 went on a nationwide strike of unlimited duration.
The protest began just before end-of-school exams at various levels of education.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, TVP