Andrius Navickas, the chairman of the Trade Union of Lithuanian Education Workers, said the strike no longer makes sense.
In his words, the trade unions intend to resume the strike in February or March amid the government’s refusal to restore the pre-crisis funding level of the education sector.
According to data provided by the Education and Science Ministry, 30 education institutions were on strike on Tuesday but the number had dropped to 18 on Thursday.
Their demands included increasing funding for schools, reducing student numbers in classes and improving social guarantees for teachers.
The ministry said satisfying the demands of the strikers would require 500 million litas (EUR 145m) next year, and finding the money is unrealistic. State financing of the education sector is projected to grow by about 50 million litas in 2015.
Unlike the teachers on strike, a task force set up by the prime minister proposes implementing changes in the education sector gradually by 2022, not starting next year.
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