A Teacher Has Been Assigned 7 Teaching Hours: Can They Request 3 More Hours?

Question

I work as a music teacher and hold a second qualification category. I have recently returned from maternity and childcare leave. There are 22 teaching hours for Music at my school. Another teacher also teaches the same subject; she graduated from a conservatory and holds a first qualification category. 

At present, she has been assigned 15 hours, while I have been assigned 7 hours. I am dissatisfied with this distribution and would like to receive 10 teaching hours.

Answer

In general education schools, teaching hours are distributed according to the priority order established by Paragraph 15 of the Regulation “On the Procedure for Class Formation and the Preparation of Tariff Lists in General Education Institutions.”

According to Paragraph 19 of the Regulation, teaching hours for teachers returning from maternity leave or childcare leave are also distributed based on the priority criteria established under Paragraph 15 of the Regulation.

In the situation described above, 15 teaching hours have been assigned to the teacher holding a first qualification category, while 7 hours have been assigned to the teacher holding a second qualification category. Such a distribution does not, in itself, constitute a violation of the requirements of the Regulation governing the distribution of teaching hours.

In other words, a teacher holding a first qualification category has a higher priority in the distribution of teaching hours than a teacher holding a second qualification category.

At the same time, the Regulation on the distribution of teaching hours does not establish a specific number of hours that must be assigned to teachers within each priority category.

In other words, a teacher with a higher priority is entitled to preferential consideration when teaching hours are distributed; however, the specific number of hours to be assigned is determined by the pedagogical council.

Can a teacher who has been assigned 7 hours request 3 additional hours?

Yes. A teacher has the right to apply for an increase in the amount of teaching hours assigned to them. As noted above, the allocation of teaching hours is carried out by the pedagogical council of the general education institution.

Therefore, in such circumstances, the teacher may submit an application to the pedagogical council requesting that the allocated teaching load be reconsidered and increased.

When considering such an application, the pedagogical council may take into account the teacher’s active participation in educational, spiritual and educational-enrichment, scientific-methodological, and experimental work, as well as other relevant indicators.

In conclusion, the distribution of the 22 available teaching hours in a 7-to-15 ratio is not a fixed requirement established by the Regulation. Therefore, the teacher has the right to request that their teaching load be increased to 10 hours and to ask for the existing distribution of teaching hours to be reconsidered.