KDH Critical That Salary Increases in Education Don't Reflect Inflation

Bratislava, March 4 (TASR) - The opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) have criticised the fact that the announced salary increases in the education sector as of September of this year don't reflect inflation in Slovakia and won't combat the shortage of teachers or the decline in the country's standard of living, KDH MPs Jan Horecky and Martin Smilnak told a press conference on Tuesday, adding that they propose increasing the share of GDP spent on education to 5.1 percent. "We should realise that 7 percent as of September 2025 means a salary increase of 2-3 percent for 2025, which is less than inflation in this country. If we add to this a one-off €800 allowance for public employees, we'll reach the level of 3-4 percent for this year," said Horecky, criticising in this context the fact that the decision to increase tariff salaries was taken at a time when the budgets of the state and local authorities had already been drawn up. According to Horecky, the planned salary increases as of January 2026 will not motivate people, either. He pointed out that according to statistics, a Slovak teacher can afford the same as what a teacher in Albania can, and there is a shortage of 2,000 to 3,000 teachers in Slovakia. Smilnak noted that a systemic step in financing education would be to increase the share of GDP in education to the European average, which is 5.1 percent. "Slovakia today gives 4.5 percent of GDP to education. The Czech Republic provides 5.1 percent, neighbouring Poland, for example, 5.2 percent. The countries that are at the top give as much as 6 percent," he added. am/df