2020-07-09 On June 25, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports announced that examinations for practicing teachers have been postponed and instead of summer they will be held in fall, while school administrations will extend employments contracts through the end of 2020-2021 academic year for practicing teachers that will not be able to improve their status in fall 2020. Currently there are 14 000 practicing teachers in the education system. In 2020, special teachers became part of the scheme for professional development and carrier advancement for the first time and they were given the status of a practicing teacher. Notably, starting from 2020, teachers with the status of a practicing teacher should have been at schools in exceptional cases and their employment contracts should not have been extended. They should have been given an opportunity to improve their status during examinations organized in summer 2020, but the examination has been postponed for fall and the new date is currently unknown. The government says that the decision has been made due to the pandemic, however the Ministry has not postponed examination for obtaining the status of a teacher. These examinations will be held in summer, from July 22 through July 30. In 2020, 12 000 individuals that wish to obtain the status of a teacher will participate in the examination process.