VIDEO: 'It is Disgraceful and Offensive': Teachers Protest Certification Procedures

Teachers with secondary vocational education are staging a protest outside the Ministry of Education and Science, expressing dissatisfaction with the government's decision. The teachers are unhappy with the certification procedures. According to them, they have been left without work due to the certification regulations. One of the teachers stated, "After passing the volunteer exam, I scored 57 points and was dismissed from my job. I wrote a letter to the ministry, and they said, 'We provided you the opportunity to complete higher education, but you did not study, and considering this, you did not even pass the volunteer threshold, you are excluded.'"

The teachers claim that the government could have postponed the implementation of the certification procedures, allowing them to continue working without conditions. "As of today, all our work has been nullified. It is disgraceful and offensive. I live in a village, and I feel so bad when they say, 'she is gone, illiterate, cannot pass the certification, has been dismissed,'" said one of the protesting teachers.

It should be noted that earlier, the Minister of Education and Science stated in the National Assembly that 12 years ago, by the Law on General Education, the state mandated that teachers must have higher education. A specific timeframe was given for teachers to acquire higher education. Many teachers took advantage of this opportunity. However, studies have shown that more than 1,300 teachers have not obtained higher education and are currently teaching in schools with only secondary vocational education. The minister stated that it was proposed to give these teachers the opportunity to participate in a voluntary certification process. If a teacher scores 60 percent or more in the voluntary certification, they will be allowed to continue their teaching work.

Further details can be found in the video.