552 manats a month for a teacher � is not a "mendicant" indicator

"The last bell" rang in the country's schools; 151 458 teachers in Azerbaijan can rest from daily hard work. Let"s sum up the results of one-year labor. How much did they manage to earn?

The Ministry of Education conducted a test for teachers, and increased the salaries of teachers who successfully passed the exam. The diagnostic evaluation began in 2014 with the city of Baku, culminating in May 2017 for all teachers in Azerbaijan. Teachers were to answer 40 questions on the specialty, and 20 on the curriculum. As a result, according to the Education Department of the city of Baku, since January 2018, salaries have been raised for 42,000 passed a diagnostic evaluation in April-May last year. Currently, the average monthly salary of teachers in educational institutions under the supervision of the Education Department is 552 manats.

Some of these teachers work at schools, and others have to be engaged mostly tutoring. In Baku, a tutor takes 100-120 manats a month for preparing for a college exam. There can be from 5 to 15 students in the group. So, in a month, one group brings the teacher 600-2000 manats of income, of which about 300 manat is paid for renting a room if they do not prepare children at home.

However it is very hard to work since the morning at the state school, and in the evening in private or tutoring. Therefore, let's ask ourselves: will 552 manats suffice for most of the Baku teachers to live a decent life without being engaged in tutoring after the main lessons at school?

According to the law "On the subsistence level for 2018", the subsistence minimum was set in 2018 at the level of 173 manats: for the able-bodied part of the population - 183 manats, for pensioners - 144 manats, for children - 154 manat. Assume that there is a working husband in the family of the teacher, they have two children, and the grandparents live on their retirement, then for the minimum necessary food and other expenses for themselves and one child (the "father pays for the second"), the teacher needs 183 monthly +154 manats = 337 manats.

337 manat for a teacher and one of his children is enough not to die? But the "subsistence level" in Azerbaijan does not reach real, constantly rising prices. A kilogram of fresh beef in Baku costs an average of 11 manats, a half-liter bottle of vegetable oil from 3-4 to 8-15 manats. So, if you buy 10 kilograms of meat per month and 10 bottles of oil a month, the teacher will spend about 200 manat only on these products, exceeding the average salary.

The real indicator of the amount of money necessary for living is the "consumer basket" consisting of the minimum necessary products, things and services. This conditional "basket" in Azerbaijan for 2018 is equal to AZN 276.96. So, the living wage set for this year is equal to 173 manats. If consumer baskets in Europe include expenses even for leisure time rights, then in Azerbaijan it does not include payment for the Internet, nor going to the cinema. You will not be able to watch movies in the laptop either, because the "consumer basket" for teachers does not provide for buying a computer. Concerning the food, then the set indicated there cannot satisfy the daily minimum calorie rate of a working person or an adolescent - 2200 calories a day," said Nariman Agayev, chairman of the Center for Sustainable Development Studies.

The "living standard" does not provide for summer vacation at the resort and payment of gasoline for a personal car, since with 552 manats per month and without other incomes to the average teacher, it is impossible to buy a car for comfortable transportation. Very few teachers in Baku drive on their cars, for this they must be certainly be engaged in tutoring. Of course, the average Baku teacher cannot afford himself to dream about buying a new apartment, and even with a fresh repair, to an average level of comfort.

Now imagine that the teacher of our children does not eat much meat and does not like fatty foods. Living at the level of the "basket" he monthly tries to save 100 manats. If the teacher fell ill and went to the hospital, which means that all his reserves accumulated during the year, immediately disappear, because it is very expensive to be treated in a hospital in Azerbaijan where there is no way to introduce insurance medicine.

Therefore, let's not lie and call our teachers "beggars", because a professional beggar in Baku collects more than some 552 manats. Our teachers do not starve and are provided with the Soviet minimum level - no more. For an oil country, moreover, where a world oil barrel cost above $ 70, 552 manats per month for a school teacher's life is a very low social indicator.