Incentives to lure doctors, teachers to remote areas
Aiming to persuade teachers and health workers to choose to work on islands and in mountainous areas, the government has drafted a package of incentives which will be evaluated by the State General Accounting Office.
Kathimerini understands that the measures include the provision of financial support, improved living and working conditions, as well as the enhancement of the professional profile of those that choose to head for remote areas.
Indicatively, for teachers, this includes the possibility of shorter compulsory working hours, the granting of cash allowances and vouchers for housing, food, heating and transportation, tax relief and the reduction of required insurance contributions.
Among the long list of measures is the use of school and teacher evaluations to encourage the best educators to move to more remote areas as well as the recruitment of tele-education applications for research and remote assistance from other colleagues and scientists.
For health staff, the measures under consideration, also part of a long list, entail remote on-call duty, faster salary progression, tax relief and lower insurance contributions are being considered.
Other measures to improve health services in remote areas include the use of boats and medical staff of the armed forces. Another plan foresees job openings for couples.
Moreover, the draft also stipulates that doctors serving in island regions have their posts filled during their time off by doctors with relevant short-term contracts (or local individuals), by developing an online platform to organize information and filling of vacancies.
Candidates will also have the opportunity to choose not only a geographical location (city) but also a hospital after the end of their contract in the island region.
