Teachers to Hold Protest in Belgrade on Nov. 1

Teachers' protest, Belgrade, Nov. 1 2024 (BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC)

Serbian teachers protested in front of the Serbian government headquarters on Nov. 1, once again rejecting an offer of an 11-percent salary increase and demanding that a protocol signed in 2023 be honored.

Serbian Education Union president Valentina Ilic held up last year's protocol document, which reads that education is a priority and includes a signed assurance of salary increases, while the government is now saying that 11 percent is the only offer on the table.

Protest speakers said in front of the government headquarters that classes would be shortened to 30 minutes for the next month, but that a complete work stoppage was possible too if the government continued behaving as it was.

The speakers at the protest also said that many of their colleagues had been prevented from coming either because their transport to the event was cancelled or due to blackmail. The protesters also said that if the government did not "wise up," teachers would again take to the streets.

The Serbian Ministry of Education said in a press release that 49.58 percent of Serbian schools operated normally on Nov. 1, that 32.79 percent of schools had operated under modified conditions, while 17.63 percent of schools held no classes.