ESFTUG president, Maia Kobakhidze demands salary increase for teachers, otherwise, she claims that schools may suffer severe workforce shortage. According to Ms Kobakhidze, teachers’ salary is much lower than the salaries of other public workers, who earn an average of 700-750 GEL, whilst school teachers usually have only 350-GEL monthly wage.
Salary growth is even more crucial issue at the time when the Ministry of Education and Science plans to increase the length of an academic year. According to the Ministry, Georgia is one of the countries with shortest school year, being only 34 weeks, which is not enough to achieve expected educational outcome. Maia Kobakhidze asserts that demanding more intense work while having extremely low salaries signifies lack of appreciation for teaching profession. The trade union also finds it hard for teachers to take care of professional development in such conditions.