Skopje, 13 May 2022 (MIA) — No specific raise offers will be made Friday to teachers who suspended the nationwide strike to negotiate higher pay with the Ministry of Education and Science with the help of a conciliator; the negotiators will discuss collective agreements for elementary and high school teachers first, according to Education Minister Jeton Shaqiri. However, teachers should get a new raise offer at the beginning of next week, Minister Shaqiri said, speaking ahead of the Friday meeting between government officials and Education, Science and Culture Workers’ Union representatives. “We will not make a specific financial offer today. We will discuss ways to find a model for our final offer,” he said, adding that negotiators also need to agree on a time frame in which the teachers should start receiving higher wages. Shaqiri said the Ministry of Education and Science was basing its decision on financial calculations from the Ministry of Finance and expected "to have a final answer and a final agreement on this issue" early next week. “We have opened a discussion and we are nearing the end of our negotiations on the new collective agreements and what they should include. The education sector has not signed a collective agreement in over ten years,” Shaqiri said. The Education, Science and Culture Workers’ Union suspended the nationwide teachers’ strike over pay on April 28, after education authorities initiated a mediation proceeding to settle the teachers pay dispute pursuant to the Law on Peaceful Settlement of Labor Disputes. The strike had started on April 11. Elementary and high school teachers were demanding 18.4-percent raises in line with the recent 18.4-percent increase of the national minimum wage from 15,200 denars [EUR 246] to 18,000 denars [EUR 291]. According to figures released by the government, teachers currently earn between 24,786 denars [EUR 402] and 25,642 denars [EUR 416] per month. Negotiating with union members to stop the strike, the government initially offered them 10-percent raises, which were rejected. They also rejected the government's subsequent offer of 12-percent raises. mr/