Aaviksoo Promises Clarity in Teachers’ Salaries Confusion
Education Minister Jaak Aaviksoo says confusion over money earmarked for a teachers’ salary increase is not resolved.
According to data presented by the local governments, teachers were paid 936 euros per month on average in 2013, Aaviksoo said at the government’s press conference today.
However, the ministry has received numerous complaints about salaries, and Aaviksoo promised to go over the numbers with every local government, if necessary, to determine whether it was allocated to fund salaries and whether the teachers actually received them.
“If (the funds) don’t turn up, we’ll have to go to the police,” Aaviksoo said.
The chairman of the board of the Estonian Education Personnel Union Reemo Voltri wrote in an opinion piece in today’s Eesti Päevaleht that teachers are still unsure of their salary levels for the current year. The ministry has not explained their salary calculations but the promised 12-percent pay hike seems unlikely, he said.
Aaviksoo called the article "regrettable and misleading", and added that the representatives of the union have been called in for consultations.