Bulgarian Teachers on Strike

Bulgarian teachers from 2,000 schools and 500 kindergartens launched effective strikes as of Monday across the entire country. In Sofia alone teachers from 150 schools and 102 kindergartens did not enter classes on Monday. The teachers are calling for a 15%-increase of their salaries.Under local legislation all protesting teachers will be in the classrooms, but there won’t be any classes. The teachers are unsatisfied with their pay and demand a 15% raise. The effective strike is a direct result from the failed negotiations with the ministries on December 7 when they were offered a raise of 3% as of January 2006.A day earlier the teachers’ syndicates and representatives of the cabinet failed to reach an agreement at a meeting hosted by Bulgaria’s president Georgi Parvanov. The president said that the education system needed a reform and that it was imperative to find funds for the teachers’ raise even if it meant mobilizing internal education resources.