Inga Vanaga, president of the Latvian Educational and Scientific Workers' Union (LIZDA), said in an interview on the LTV program “Rita Panorama” that general education teachers will suffer the most from the solution proposed by the Ministry of Education and Science. He said it would be.
Vanaga said the ministry had sent proposals to partners to improve workload balance. This offer affects approximately 50,000 teachers. This offer negatively affects them all.
She emphasized that general education teachers, vocational education and special education teachers would be the biggest losers from the department's proposed solution. Mr Vanaga explained that the current proposals from the ministry basically mean you will work more and your working time will be worth less.
As previously reported, LIZDA plans to hold a protest outside the cabinet building on May 21st.
LIZDA argues that the protests could be stopped by amending ministerial requirements that provide for the continuation of work to balance the workload of all teacher groups. This means less contact time and more time for other tasks. The desired workload distribution differs for each group of teachers. For example, for general education teachers, the desired working time ratio is 60:40.
LIZDA and the Ministry of Education and Science have opposing views regarding workload balance. According to the ministry, the conflict has surfaced because both sides have different views on future initiatives. The Ministry believes that multiple solutions are on the table and that it is necessary to consider a wide range of opinions, not just those of the Ministry and trade unions.
The ministry will update its guidelines on workload distribution to clarify which jobs should be compensated.
Also read: Minister says he doesn't understand why Latvian teachers are angry
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