Skopje, 1 September 2024 (MIA) – Minister of Education and Science Vesna Janevska said today’s teachers’ protest is organized by the opposition party, which didn’t provide money not only for their salaries, but also for any raise when it was in power.

According to her, the teachers are right when defending their rights. “I’m on their side,” Janevska told a news conference Sunday.

Teachers’ salaries will be raised next year as soon as the state makes sure it can bear the burden, she said.

“It is outrageous when the party that didn’t provide enough money for salaries is now calling on the teachers to protest. We provided huge sums in order to ensure they are paid their salaries. I believe this is a way to manipulate the teachers,” Janevska stated commenting on the teachers’ protest organized by the opposition party SDSM demanding higher salaries. 

The Independent Trade Union of Education and Science distanced itself from today’s protest. 

It is the government’s responsibility to raise the salaries of teachers by 12 percent. The government’s decision to scrap the 12-percent raise is a humiliation and insult of the teachers, said SDSM leader Venko Filipche speaking to reporters at the protest. Their explanation that there is no money in the budget is nothing more than an excuse. “There is money in the budget, unfortunately, to raise salaries is not a priority,” he said. 

Photo: MIA