The bill to create a teaching incentive, which rewards personnel who have fewer absences (presenteeism) and more training, generated a great debate today in the Legislature. The proposal is promoted by the bloc of Neuquén Popular Movementand spaces Together for Change, We Make Neuquén, the PRO and the UCR joined. Until now, the ruling party has not commented on the issue.
The proposal took parliamentary status and will be discussed in three committees. What it establishes is that an incentive amount will be paid (equivalent to 10% of the monthly position assignment corresponding to each agent) to those who have absences that do not exceed three quarterly, with a limit of two monthly, duly justified and framed in the licensing regime.
They must have proof of attendance at a minimum of training determined by the Provincial Education Council in an Annual Teacher Training and Strengthening Plan, which will be established annually, prior to the beginning of each school year.
Those who raised their questions were the representatives of the left. Representative Gabriela Suppicich (FIT) assured: “there is an open attack on teaching in terms of the fact that incentives for training are included in the statute, the agreements with the Provincial Council of Education and everything is regulated. “Putting in an incentive simply implies that teachers do not go on strike, that they do not defend the public school, that they do not even go out to complain about the terrible conditions in which the schools are.”
He maintained that there are establishments in which classes have not yet started and “it is not because the teachers have gone on strike to demand salary or conditions. Educational policy occupies 325th place in its priorities.
He added: “Putting an incentive is precisely forcing workers, with a depreciated salary, in terrible working conditions, who are more concerned about the infrastructure issue than about the pedagogical process, to be forced to sustain those conditions.”
The legislator pointed out that teacher training is permanent, because that is what allows them to compete and move up the ranks.
Deputy Andrés Blanco (PTS-FIT) said that the education worker “does not have the privileges that exist in this Chamber.” “Here there are gasoline vouchers, there are per diems, block expenses and almost 4 million per diem and from here we want to discuss with the finger how to solve a problem considered an expense”he remarked.
He stated that “This is a mechanism to install presentism, let’s not look for a way around it, it is presentism, and it is nothing else.” He indicated that It is about putting teaching as responsible for the “educational crisis”, when what is missing are funds to make it work.
The PRO legislator, Marcelo Bermúdez, congratulated the authors of the initiative. «These types of projects are what are going to transform the terrible educational reality, in terms of results, into something that we can feel a little more proud of. The terrible education received in the province of Neuquén has a very high cost in failures, and that must be assumed. “This also has to do with the poor training of teachers.”he expressed.
