New approach to teacher remuneration

Draft Amendment to the Act on Pedagogical Staff was elaborated.

The draft Amendment to the Act on Pedagogical Staff (submitted in 2019) included the position of the experienced teacher-mentor, which was dealt with in the SYPO project(System for the Support of Professional Development of Teachers and Directors) which also focuses on improving the conditions for teaching professions and on supporting the system of further education of pedagogical staff.

Such a teacher would be entitled to a supplement to their salary and their direct teaching activities would be reduced. The amendment was approved by the Parliament of the Czech Republic and approval by the Senate is expected in spring 2021.

The professional public did not agree on a unified position on the Amendment to the Act on Pedagogical Staff. One problematic point was the suggested possibility to grant, for a period of 3 years, a presumption of a teacher's qualification to any master degree graduate for teaching not only vocational subjects at upper secondary schools but also general subjects at the second stage of basic schools. Agreeing a teaching profession salary of 130% of the Czech average was also considered problematic, as the teaching professions would be the only ones with a fixed maximum cap.

The Amendment to the Act on Pedagogical Staff was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in January 2021. Subsequently, in March 2021, the Senate returned the Amendment to the Chamber of Deputies with several amendment proposals. The Amendment to the Act was not re-incorporated into the Chamber of Deputies' debate by the end of the parliamentary term; at the end of 2021 it was returned to the legislative process due to the new composition of the Chamber of Deputies and the new Government.

In its Programme Declaration of January 2022, the Czech Government committed to guarantee quality remuneration for pedagogical staff and to maintain their salaries at 130% of the average gross monthly wage. The Government promised to put emphasis on maintaining and effectively using 20% of the above-target salary components. It also committed to prepare and implement a system of career development for teachers as a tool for professional support.

In 2022, the Unions demanded that 80% of the amount should be allocated to the tariff component of the salary but the Government in the end rejected their requirement.

The draft Amendment came up again in the Chamber of Deputies at the end of 2022. . However, critical voices are still being heard quite often, e.g. the pedagogical faculties criticise the fact that the Amendment opens the way for teachers without pedagogical qualifications (they have to complete it gradually on the go). Critique also targets the absence of the so-called supporting positions, i.e. social pedagogues and school psychologists.

If the Amendment is approved, the teachers would be entitled to salaries amounting to 130% of the average wage (as opposed to the current 115%) in the Czech Republic from 2022/2023 school year. The salary increase should prevent the outflow of novice teachers, whose share in the Czech education system is still rather low and up to 15% of them leaves their teaching jobs after two years. They should be supported by the so-called 'induction teachers' (i.e. experienced teachers/mentors), whose position/role is introduced by the Amendment.