Categories
Journalistic Survey
Articles
Reportage
Analitic
Photo Reportage
Exclusive
Interview
Foreign Media about Georgia
Editorial
Position
Reader's opinion
Blog
Themes
Children's Rights
Women's Rights
Justice
Refugees/IDPs
Minorities
Media
Army
Health
Corruption
Elections
Education
Penitentiary
Religion
Others

Dismissed Public School Teachers Threaten to Protest over Illegal Lost of their Jobs

October 2, 2008

Eka Kevanishvili, Tbilisi

Educators’ and Scientists’ Free Trade Union of Georgia proceeds with its plans to organize a protest against the dismissal of teachers from Tbilisi Public School # 149 as well as those terminated from Dedoplistskaro Public School # 1. The trade union is planning to hold large-scaled protests if the teachers are not reinstated to their former positions. Furthermore, the union states that the teachers lost their jobs without any legal justification and in violation of the Georgian Labor Code.

A total of 7 teachers were dismissed from the Public School # 149 on the last day of the previous school year back in the summer. The teachers from Dedoplistskaro Public School #1 were dismissed in early September. The principals of both schools dismissed the teachers based on the conditions provided in Paragraph D of Article 37 of the Labor Code of Georgia. However, this paragraph does not clearly clarify under what circumstances when an employer can dismiss an employee.

Maia Liparteliani, a lawyer of Free Trade Union states: “On June 27th, 2008 when teachers were leaving the school for their vacations Maia Giorgadze, the principal of Public School # 149 informed 7 teachers that they had been dismissed. All seven human resource orders for the dismissal of the teachers are identical. They are so similar in their wording you can not tell them apart (except for the difficult names of the teachers fired). Maia Giorgadze dismissed those people who were well respected in the school. During the whole previous school year they had insisted that her work be inspected. In other words, using Paragraph D of Article 37 the principal took out revenge on the teachers and left them without the ability to earn a living wage. No explanation was provided for the termination. The same thing happened in Dedoplistskaro on September 2-3. Maia Lapiashvili, Dedoplistskaro Public School # 1 principal dismissed 17 teachers in mass. However, she later allowed half of dismissed teachers to return to their positions under some conditions. She also proceeded to tell the other half that they were Public School #1 teachers once again. However, did not give them classes to teach in order to make it real.  All were dismissed under the very same article.

It is indicated in the Paragraph D, Article 37 that employment relations can be terminated when employment agreement has been invalidated. However, this article does not specify the instances when the employment agreement can be terminated. In addition, it is also not indicated in the article that dismissed employees must be warned in advance about the termination of an employment agreement. In short, the school principals did not take into consideration the Law on General Education and the orders of the Ministry of Education of Georgia indicating that school principals must follow certain procedures before they are legally able to dismiss teachers. Some of the procedures are to state the grounds for their claims and then to provide teachers with the opportunity to improve their performance and overcome their mistakes, and so forth and so on”

Maia Liparteliani concludes based on the above-mentioned described instances of dismissal that principals are afraid of the power of school boards of trustees. This is because a board of trustees can conduct an inspection of the activities of principals’. “At the very first attempt to carry out their duties, i.e., to demand public information and start an investigation on school funds, members of board of trustees were actually dismissed by principals, these are proven facts. The Dedoplistskaro Public School principal dismissed teachers when she first learned that the board of trustees was planning to discuss her possible dismissal.

The above-mentioned article from the Labor Code of Georgia has been used to support human discrimination. It is clear that this article does not correspond to international standards of school law as well.

Manana Ghurchumelidze, head of Educators’ and Scientists’ Free Trade Union considers that the present situation at schools is the result of Georgian society’s indifference towards the discussion and adoption of new Georgian Labor Code.

She explains how “when amendments were being introduced to the Labor Code of Georgia we warned the society about its potential negative outcomes. However, no one considered that the situation was all that serious. Initially, employers did not use Article 37 to any active degree. However, the situation has dramatically changed in recent times. It is as if someone instructed them to use this article. We can clearly see the result of such an instruction. I am convinced that this tendency will spread to other institutions as well.

We now face a controversial situation: on one hand board of trustees was granted with the authority to run a school but on the other hand school principal can dismiss board member teachers at his/her own discretion. Do you think a teacher will not be in constant fear that a principal can dismiss him or her any time that effort will be made to exert control over the principal?”

Meanwhile, teachers are forced to visit courts and parliamentary committee on education in order to try to protect their rights as classroom teachers. Their pretensions and claims against their principals are all the same:

Makvala Madzgharashvili, math teacher of Dedopolistkaro Public School # 1: “Our school principal has been very willful in her actions. The teachers became very irritated by her activity and we have pseudo education process at Georgian schools. Everyone is irritated and tensed over the situation, as it has become abnormal. The principal treats everyone as an enemy. She likes to run the school unanimously and will not tolerate cooperation, take advice and so on. She considers that teachers are not really wanting changes and seeking out innovations. Consequently the principal is neglecting the school teachers. That is why we demanded that she have to leave the school. However, she was faster and wrote an order on our dismissal a day earlier than we cold organize ourselves to take issue with the problems.”

Irma Maskhulia, teacher of Public School # 149: “All 11 members of the board elected the principal. However, she did not appreciate this and went about causing conflict among staff which had been very friendly. She does not consider that we are normal people. She needs slaves and not employees. The situation had been tensed all year long. We were saying that we would not be at school next year. If we return to school the board of trustees must dismiss that woman.”

Maia Giorgadze, the principal of Public School # 149 states that she made the decision on dismissing some teachers based on her one year observations. She says court will back the decision-maker in this case. She does not mention anything other reasons that contributed to conflict as of now.

Ministry of Education interfered with the conflict as well. Vasil Gedevanishvili, head of General Inspection of the MOE shared the following: “The Ministry of Education makes its judgment on the administrative acts of the principal. In this case we invalidated the orders of the principals because they had violated the General Administrative Code of Georgia. The principals indicated in the motivation part of order that she dismissed teachers because they were breaching school schedule and it was noting in her subsequent that it was based on the Article 37. However, she paid the teachers compensation which was not prescribed by Article 37. Therefore we declared her act illegal. However, teachers did not return to their positions because principal has lodged an appeal before the Georgian government. This case is now being adjudicated in the State Chancellery up to present time. Teachers have since sued in court so it is up to court to providethe final legal decision.”   

News