2019-04-12 14:42 update: 2019-04-14, 20:24
Photo PAP/Rafał Guz
Final exams at all lower secondary schools (gimnazjum) took place on Friday, there were no disturbances, Minister of National Education Anna Zalewska has told a press conference.
At 9 am on Friday, third-year gimnazjum students began writing the foreign language exam, the third and final part of the obligatory lower secondary school exam.
"Today is the third straight good day. I hope that, above all, it's a very good day for students," said the minister.
Friday is also the fifth day of the teachers' strike.
The Presidium of the Board of the Polish Teachers' Union (ZNP) decided to continue with its strike and to ask Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to immediately ensure the participation of an external mediator in the negotiations, announced Sławomir Broniarz, the head of ZNP.
The strike broke out on Monday after the government failed to concede to teacher demands of an immediate PLN 1,000 (EUR 233) gross raise and changes in their working conditions. The protesters have since modified their demands to a 30 percent wage raise in two tranches, both payable this year. The government says the budget cannot afford such a big raise at the moment, and suggests incremental increases spread out over a longer period of time. (PAP)
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