Thousands of teachers to lose jobs: teachers union head

A further 22,000 people are set to have their hours cut when the government does away with middle schools and replaces them with an earlier system of eight-year primary and four-year high school, head of the Polish Teachers' Union Sławomir Broniarz added.

But Poland’s education ministry on Monday said in a statement that the changes aim to ensure that teachers keep their jobs.

“We appeal for anxiety not to be raised in the education sector by giving false data about school employment records,” the statement said.

However, Broniarz said that Zalewska should not question the numbers, saying that they are official school data.

He said it was high time Zalewska spoke to trade unionists, adding that the problem was not just limited to out of work teachers but also affected those teachers who will work less than 20 hours a week or work at a number of schools to make up the hours.

The education ministry said that some 14,000 vacancies were available, 5,000 of which were for more than 20 hours per week.

The education reform will reintroduce an earlier system of eight-year primary school and four-year high school or five-year vocational school.

It will by 1 September 2019 replace the current system of six-year primary, three-year middle and three-year high school, which was introduced in 1999, with middle schools being phased out.

The planned sweeping changes have seen thousands of people take to the streets in protest since they were first floated last year. (vb)

Source: PAP