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I D E A P R O V O L B Y 2 0 1 7 Platy učitelů ve volebních programech: přehled a rozbor
Study 13 / 2017
IDEA FOR THE 2017 ELECTIONS Teachers’ salaries in election manifestos:3 an overview and breakdown4
SEPTEMBER 2017
DANIEL MÜNICH
Summary of key issues
• This study maps and examines the extent to which the election manifestos of the prominent political entities (hereafter referred to as parties) running for election to the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament provide answers to seven questions related to teachers’ pay and working conditions, which were set out in the previous IDEA FOR THE 2017 ELECTIONS study.
• Most of the election manifestos emphasise that low pay for teachers is a problem and that teachers’ salaries need to be raised substantially. Most of the pledges represent a raise in the range of 18–20% compared with today’s salaries. Only the manifestos from the Mayors and Independents (STAN), the Realists (Realisté) and perhaps TOP09 would improve the Czech Republic’s ranking among EU and OECD countries as far as teachers’ relative salary levels are concerned, which is currently very low.
• Only the election manifestos of the ČSSD, KDU-ČSL, SPD and SZ (Green Party) present their pledge in relation to other salaries, which is rather more reliable than promising an absolute level of pay (ODA, STAN, Realisté). Not a single manifesto, however, makes any plausible pledge to keep teachers’ salaries at a substantially higher level in the long term, beyond the newly elected deputies’ term of office.
3 The study was developed with the support of the Strategy AV21 a program for excellent research of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and is based on the research of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GA CR P402 / 12 / G130).
4 The author wish to than Paulina Očkajová for the careful preparation of the background documents from the political parties manifestos, Filip Pertold of IDEA for his comments and insights on the draft versions of the text, and Vladimír Hulík for consultations on statistical data on salaries and teacher numbers. However, any inaccuracies and errors, including the opinions expressed in the study, are the authors responsibility.
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