Service Without Reward Is Punishment

Up to now, it's always been more or less clear when the school year starts. It has depended only on the calendar, always falling on the first Monday of September. This year, however, the beginning of the school year will depend on back payment of wages to teachers in Serbia.

The attitude of the Independent Teachers Union of Serbia will depend on the republic government's readiness to negotiate on an increase in labor costs, since the the union's board is dissatisfied "despite the fact that the Ministry has paid wages for May and June to the majority of schools". Jagos Bulatovic, president of the Education, Science, Culture and Arts Union, has stated the following for the Vreme weekly: "It's simply a matter of respect for the agreement we reached with the Serbian government on May 30, 1997. The major part of the agreement was fulfilled in August. That is, wages for May and June have been paid, with June wages and the vacation subsidy still to be paid. There's only one week's time left. If the agreement has not been fulfilled by that time, we will, of course, act according to the decision (the school year will not start on September 1). Please tell me the person who has the right to change this decision? The government has signed, it took responsibility. Our stand is clear. However, personally I believe that everything will be fine."

Miomir Filipovic, director of the technical school "Nikola Tesla" said something similar: that the school had it's regular teachers council meeting, that Union members mentioned nothing - the entrance examinations are over, summer exams are under way, the school has been painted, etc. "You know, it was the students who suffered the greatest damage during this strike, and the headmasters of the schools were the busiest."

Ph.D. Milan Raspopovic, director of the Mathematics High School in Belgrade, which actively and fiercely participated in the strike, was in a more temperate and reconcilable mood. In fact, he expressed understanding for the general situation in society and all its structures. He believes that the Ministry has kept its promise: "Well, you find me another example to match this one: in August only, we received money three times! We expect that a regular pace of wages will be achieved in September." When asked his opinion about whether the money is coming due to the forthcoming elections, Raspopovic said: "No, let's not take it that way... You know, something has moved after all, it's rolling, production has started, some loans have arrived... I believe that it will be the same after the elections, that the agreement will be respected."

Is that so? Let's recall that the teacher's strike started in February. The teachers refused to work, dissatisfied with their financial status. People with high education received their "low, but rare" wages. The average wage of a high school teacher was, and still is, 1200 dinars. The city is responsible for the material expenses of the educational institutions, that is, the city government. Those resources are used for heating, water supply, electricity, telephones, chalk, paper, hygienic chemicals and the like, and the last time schools got money for that purpose was in March. Wages are the responsibility of the republic's government, i.e. the Ministry for Education of the Republic of Serbia. These funds are determined by the 1997 budget. Teachers did not receive their money because the Ministry did not pay. And why? Is it maybe because the police had to be paid, beyond what was budgeted, to keep peace and order during the winter demonstrations (transportation, food, accommodation, per diem payments)? Is it maybe that the pensioners will not get their full pensions, but only half, due to the necessity of making back payments to the teachers for July (it seems, as minister of education Jovo Todorovic said, that nothing will become of the the vacation subsidy payment for the time being)?

Who knows? It is not possible to predict what life itself in these parts will invent. The children are the most important, the students. It seems certain that the school year will start on time this year too, on September 1. Nevertheless, as far as the teachers are concerned, it is uncertain whether wages "will keep their regular pace" after the forthcoming elections, at least until the end of the first semester. All chances are that the game will start all over again.