Yashaw request ignored, MAST: SBASK not make blackmailing demands

The next week has been warned of strikes in the education sector due to the failure to pass the Law of Pay through which education workers claim salary increases. The education ministry praises the strike as harmful after difficulties with pandemic, while asking for SBASK understanding and not making blackmailing demands like that for 100 euros every month until the adoption of the Law of Pays.

Deputy Education Minister Dukagjin Pupovci, in an interview for KosovaPress, said more time is required in drafting the final draft for the Law of Pays after an acceptable formula should be found for all categories of public servants who will be included in this law.

This is where the problem seems to be in SBASK's dissatisfaction with the dynamic drafting of the wage law. We've had meetings at the end of February when the draft came up, when there was a flow, because it wasn't an official draft... There are not only education workers here, there are all categories of public servants in the Law of Salaries. Here it takes patience to find a formula that is acceptable to all categories, and I believe that very soon we will have this Law of Pays in the form of a draft, when we can sit back and discuss it with the SBASK. Otherwise for any concern, on the part of the SBASK, we are ready to discuss issues on daily basis”, Pupovci stressed.

Last week, the SBASK and several other unions protested, and one of the requirements was for the state to provide 100 euros every month until the payment law's adoption. For Pupovcin, however, this demand is unacceptable and displaceable. According to him, this union should be more understanding.

Therefore until the approval of the Law of Pays, the salaries will be what they are, because they cannot be changed every day. Then we have to keep in mind that we, besides 80 thousand public sector employees, have another 250 thousand in the private sector, they are Kosovo citizens as well. And from this point of view, I believe it's SBASK has to show a little more understanding. He should remember that he is representing a category that is respected in society, the category of education workers, rather than setting demands that are not in line with the reputation this category enjoys in the society, such as this outrageous requirement for 100 euros every month until the wage law” is approved, Pupovci added.

The SBASK has warned strike since April 20th, but for Pupovci it would hurt students the most. According to him, a strike would also damage the educational system after a two - year period of difficulties brought by pandemics.

“We need to know that the strike does not just cause damage to the government or the Ministry of Education or to educational authorities. First of all, it's hurting the students, we're now doing two years that we're not so normal, unfortunately, the last few months have normalized a little, but this period of pandemic has had a big impact on this profound educational loss in the education system, because students have lost hours, learning has often been disturbed. And during this period the education workers have been at the level of their duty. Now a strike after two years, it is very harmful for students”, he said.

Pupovci also spoke of the Constitutional decision that gave the Kamenica municipality the right to the organisation of alternative teaching on the part of AugustI. According to him, they have never contested reform in education but sought solutions for students who had not followed classes and that the Kamenica municipality offered no solution.

The Constitutional Court has dealt with another issue, has been made with the Ministry's decision to organise accelerated teaching for 441 students who have not followed the lesson, because the Kamenica municipality has not found common language with their communities, and could not understand which school those students should attend. This decision was made in April 2021, just on April 23rd, after a series of meetings with the mayor of the Kamenica municipality, where none of these meetings were countered to school reorganization but requested by the mayor of the municipality (Castrati) to find forms for these children to miss school year because eight months have been out of school. Since there is no positive response then the ministry has made such a decision, and what the Constitutional Court has deemed is actually the legality of this decision, that with this decision it has interfered with the competencies of the municipality”, Pupovci said.

Pupovci added that AugustI has in its programme re-organising schools, and for this very next year, there will be higher budgets for student transport, enabling municipalities to re-organise school instruction depending on the number of students.