Davit Tsikarishvili: “If You Have Somebody to Protect You – You Will Stay at School, but If You Do Not Have – You Will Leave”
July 5, 2010
Nino Gelashvili
Despite the opposite claiming of the ministry of education and science of Georgia, the number of teachers is massively reduced at public schools. Minister Dimitri Shashkin said that the number of teachers will not be reduced and the ministry recommends schools to distribute working hours among teachers fairly. The Human Rights Center interviewed the head of the legal department of the Independent Trade Union “Ertoba” Davit Tsikarishvili.
-Mr. Davit, the school directors send the dismissed teachers to the ministry. The ministry does not deny the resolution about dismissal of the part-time teachers. What can you say about this?
-It is an order made by phone-calls. The minister could not release similar orders in written form because it is not within his competence. The state funds the pupils and not the teachers. The salary of the teacher depends on the working hours. A pupil of the 5th grade has a voucher and there is a special timetable for the voucher. Thus, there is no principle difference who will give him a lesson – teacher with 18, 24 or 12 working hours. Consequently, it does not release money at all. The minister tries to state that school directors are those doing it and not him. The school has autonomy and the minister avoided to interfere in their activities directly.
-Were oral orders made in order not to breach autonomy of the school?
-Not only because of it. In fact, school directors will be responsible for the reduction process but they say that education resource-centers are carrying out the process. In fact, the resource-centers are giving personnel time-table to the school directors and tell them to act according to their own decisions. The director does not receive any written directives from the resource center. The school director will be responsible at the court too.
-Is it fair is to request a teacher to have 18 working hours?
-The 18 working hours is not a selection principle for the dismissal. First of all, a teacher cannot have exactly 18 working hours. The over-phone order apparently means that a teacher shall have a minimum of 18 working hours but nobody will manage to divide 36 working hours between two teachers because there is time-table and two teachers cannot teach one subject to one class. So, if a teacher with less working hours is dismissed, her/his working hours will be assigned to another one and consequently, teacher will have 22-24 working hours that is too much. So, we face a new principle which has nothing to do with the reduction of part-time teachers.
-Then what is it?
-The reason for teachers’ reduction is the economy of budget expenditures. We cannot see any other aims of the ministry. At least, I do not know it. Maybe they want to later start boasting that they have increased salaries of teachers.
-So, you think it is part of PR campaign?
-Yes, it is. But as for the teachers, neither those with 23-24 working hours will be happy because 24 lessons in five days means a very hard work. First of all, every lesson cannot be equally productive. A teacher should have very strong nervous system and strong health to have productive lessons at least during 3 months without long-term vacations.
-When a teacher has incomplete or equal working hours what can be criteria to leave him/her at school? In several schools the criteria was age…
-In the districts and regions everything is very simple; everybody knows each other and personal relations will play particular role in it. Will they fire the relative of the district governor from school?! NO! They have elected board of trustees at schools and started to claim that the board is a huge progress in the Georgian education system. Yes, it is but the board is entitled to decide amount of working hours for each teacher. The boards of trustees run the free part of the budget funds and full part of non-budget funds. I can assure you that I have never heard the board-members express their opinions about any problems in any town. It demonstrates the character of democracy in our schools and education system.
-Can teachers be selected on political grounds?
-In Georgia politics influences every field, but I want to tell you one thing – many teachers, who worked for the National Movement during the municipal elections, are now fired because they have nobody to protect them. Corruption and protector decided everything in school and not politics. Let us take an example of a relative of the district governor … you can call it either politics or corruption but I think it is corruption. As for the principle, it is the following: if you have somebody to protect you, you will stay at school; if you do not have, you will go.”
-This year the certificate tests of teachers will start. It could cause dismissal of several teachers. So, why they needed to take additional measures?
-First of all, certificate tests cannot cause dismissal of teachers because international law has its own regulations regardless of the norms of the Georgian law. A teacher cannot be fired if s/he does not write anything correctly in the tests and have perfect results with pupils. Everybody knows it.
As for the connection between the ongoing processes with certificate tests, teachers, who will be fired now, will not be allowed to take part in the tests. A school or resource-center shall nominate teachers. This question is still under discussion but it is clear that unemployed teachers do not have the right to participate in the tests according to the draft-resolution. They are the so-called unprotected teachers. Otherwise, they could have enough working hours.
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