Selvedin Šatorović
President of the Independent Trade Union of Primary Schools Education of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The time of the pandemic has put all teachers at the forefront of new challenges that they have not yet encountered. When it comes to colleagues in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for them the pandemic and the consequent introduction of the state of disaster by the Government meant the beginning of the online school for tens of thousands of students. Unfortunately, to a large extent, they were left to themselves to deal with the technical possibilities, above all the use of computers and necessary equipment, internet connection, but also the preparation of school materials, which in these extraordinary circumstances requires extra effort. It should be noted, of course, that teachers, like other citizens, are in isolation at the same time, and that in most cases they have their children who are constantly at home and also attend online classes at the same time. These are special psychological challenges that they face for the first time in their lives, and for which neither of us can say with certainty whether and what consequences they will have, above all, on their mental state. In addition to being a knowledge-transmitter, in the pandemic, all teachers have a particularly enhanced role for psychologists who need to pay extra attention to their pupils, everything with the aim of facilitating their time of isolation and the special conditions in which they currently live.
What is particularly worrying is the fact that the Government, as well as some officials from the ruling political circles expressed readiness and even announced a reduction of wages to employees in the schools. It is utterly illogical and unacceptable that in times of one of the greatest crises, it is planned to reduce the salaries of those who work every day in difficult conditions, with a large number of overtime hours, while spending their own money and resources. The union will of course not accept this under any circumstances and will fight by all legal means to prevent it.
