Experts: Raising teachers' salaries to 130% would require an additional CZK 35 billion

Increasing teachers' salaries to 130% of the average wage in the Czech Republic would require boosting next year's education budget by CZK 35 billion, Daniel Münich of the IDEA think tank at CERGE-EI stated today.

According to Münich, bringing the education budget up to the average level of spending among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) would require an additional CZK 40–50 billion. This year, the Ministry of Education is operating with an approved budget of CZK 284 billion. However, according to experts, next year's education budget should be at least CZK 334 billion. This amount corresponds to the share of gross domestic product that OECD countries spend on education on average.