Romanian teachers receive some of the lowest salaries among public sector employees, despite the salary increases announced for this year, the Federation of the Free Education Unions (FSLI) said.

The federation says teachers are paid less than “the secretaries or drivers working in city halls and benefiting from salaries established in a discretionary manner.”

According to FSLI, a beginner teacher will receive a RON 55 (EUR 11.8) increase to their net salary of RON 1,440 (EUR 309) starting with 2018. A teacher with 40 years of work experience will earn, starting with 2018, a net salary of RON 2,887 (EUR 621), after an increase of RON 117 (EUR 25).

FSLI argued that, in the public sector, salaries should be granted depending on how much the employees contribute to Romania’s economic development in the area they are working in.

The federation also pointed to how elected local officials earn salaries according to special rules.

“We are in the situation where drivers or secretaries working in city halls earn more than a teacher with 25 years of experience. If in other countries, with a developed economy and an advanced democracy, the salaries in public administration are lower than those in education. In Romania the average net salary in the public administration is of RON 3,850 (EUR 827), while in education it is of about RON 2,350 (EUR 505),” FSLI said.

“With such a positioning in the salaries grid of those training the future labor force, Romania’s chances of making it among the countries with a high living standard tend to be close to zero,” Simion Hăncescu, the FSLI president, said.

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editor@romania-insider.com