“We have significantly increased spending on education. This was an unprecedented increase in subsidies. Donald Tusk’s government, on the other hand, promised teachers mountains of gold, but unfortunately that turned out to be the case as always. These increases are absolutely different from what was promised,” Marzena Machałek, PiS MP and former State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Science, told wPolityce.pl.
wPolityce.pl: Did Donald Tusk’s government mislead teachers regarding pay increases?
Marzena Machalek: They have the right to feel cheated, which is clearly heard in the statements of teachers and unions.
High wage increases were promised, both before and after the elections. However, the currently proposed increases differ significantly from what was promised. I would like to remind you that the Law and Justice government, in which I was Deputy Minister of Education, increased teacher salaries by more than 60%. Beginning teachers have received nearly 100 percent over the years. increases. We have significantly increased spending on education. There has been an increase in education subsidies – by almost 90% since 2016. Investment spending has also been at a record high. Donald Tusk, on the other hand, promised teachers mountains of gold, but unfortunately that turned out to be the case as always. These increases are definitely different than what was announced.
The Minister of Education surprisingly stated that PiS had “cried”. These proposals are mainly criticized by the trade unions, whose representatives say very clearly that these are not the increases they expected.
However, the president of the ZNP, Sławomir Broniarz, already tried to explain in an interview for the website Salon24 that the vice president of the ZNP was not so much concerned with the amount of wage increases, but with the difference between the incomes of appointed teachers and beginning teachers, and tried to reassure them that teachers had not received such a large pay increase in more than a dozen years.
Yesterday I heard the opinion of a ZNP representative who was clearly disappointed with the size of the wage increases. I would like to add that we have significantly increased the salaries of beginning teachers so that young people want to work after graduating from school and stay in the profession.
Teachers are not the first group who may feel disappointed by the decisions of the current government, which has been in power for just over a month and is already backtracking on subsequent promises or doing the exact opposite.
The government has not been in power for very long, but it is already clear how its promises will be fulfilled. This applies, for example, to increasing the tax-free amount. After all, many voters of the ruling coalition were counting on the fulfillment of this promise.
And if we talk about education, it is surprising that the most important reform is the abandonment of homework. I realize that children should not be overloaded with homework, but that it should be well thought out. I have worked as a teacher and I know that with sensible homework, students can consolidate what they have learned in class and prepare for the next day at school.
Many teachers are also sounding the alarm about the complete abolition of homework. In this way, children lose the opportunity to consolidate and, above all, develop the knowledge and skills acquired at school. Of course, students cannot work beyond their strength, this must be taken into account. However, I believe that a good teacher knows how to assign homework in a way that consolidates knowledge and skills, prepares for the next day, and does not overburden the student.
The idea of abolishing homework itself sounded somewhat populist during the campaign. Students will certainly like it, but was it supported by substantive reviews, considerations or opinions?
When I went to school, I was also happy when people ‘worked hard’. Children often have this attitude and it is understandable. However, eliminating homework is not a good idea, although of course, I repeat, homework should be well thought out by teachers.
The question, however, is to what extent the teacher can consider whether and how he should give students homework, since we are already hearing that the regulation announced for April speaks of a de facto “ban”?
I think this is a harmful idea. I criticize this announcement not only as a former deputy minister of education, but especially as a person who worked as a teacher for many years.
Thank you very much for the interview.
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Source: wPolityce