Poland’s main teachers’ union has encouraged its members to give up the use of their own equipment and resources – such as private computers, printers and stationery supplies – for a week to draw public attention to how much they contribute out of their own pockets.
The campaign – under the slogan “Teacher, don’t sponsor your classroom!” – is part of a broader protest by the Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP) in which it is demanding a 20% pay rise for all teachers and the re-establishment of constructive dialogue with the government.
As part of the campaign, teachers have this week been asked to rely only on school resources. Normally, many teachers in Poland use their own equipment and money to support their work in the classroom.
Anna Sosna from Częstochowa, who was named Poland’s Teacher of the Year in 2011, calculated that during one school year in 2015/2016 she spent exactly 4,671.74 zloty (€961.83) on paper, school supplies, paints and other aids.
“That was seven years ago, even before inflation,” she said, quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza, referring to an accelerating inflation rate in Poland that in August reached a new 25-year high of 16.1%.
📢26 września w ramach trwającego Pogotowia Protestacyjnego @ZNP_ZG wystartował z akcją „Nauczycielu, nie sponsoruj swojego warsztatu pracy!” Akcja ma potrwać do 30 września.
➡️Więcej: @GNauczycielski https://t.co/NTAydrr3cl— Głos Nauczycielski (@GNauczycielski) September 26, 2022
“We should also stop using our own phones for work purposes,” said Jadwiga Rezler, president of the Silesian district of the ZNP in an interview with industry news service Głos Nauczycielski (Teacher’s Voice).
“Teachers often make their phones available for contact with parents, for example, because the school does not provide phones,” she explained.
“Parents call sometimes on various matters, often in the late evening hours. If we refrain from using our own equipment for a week… we might get the message across to the public that there are no schools without teachers.”
Rezler added that with teachers’ low salaries, the extra costs can be a significant burden. A beginner teacher in Poland earns on average 4,432.15 zloty (€914.67) per month before tax, while a teacher with the most experience earns on average 6,795.97 zloty (€1,402.5).
Teachers are demanding increases of 20% backdated to 1 September for all educators and salary increases from 1 January 2023 of at least five percentage points above inflation.
The government has already increased teachers’ salaries twice this year: in May by 4.4% and in September by 20%, but only for entry-level teachers.
In 2023, salaries for all teachers are expected to increase by 7.8%, similarly to the entire public sector. Trade unionists point out, however, that such increases do not compensate the impact of inflation.
Main photo credit: RODNAE Productions / Pexels
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
