Russian President Dmitry Medvedev attends a meeting of the Commission for Modernization and Technological Development | Ekatherina Shukina/EPA Thousands sign petition calling for Russian PM to resign Dmitry Medvedev criticized for comments about teachers’ pay.

More than 178,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's resignation after he suggested teachers wanting more pay should seek a different career, AFP reported Friday.

When asked by a university lecturer at a public forum why teachers receive less money than policemen, the prime minister replied that “there is no need to compare, the issue is what you choose in life.”

Teaching, he said, "is a vocation. If you want to earn money, there are a bunch of great places where you can do that quicker and better in business. And you didn't go into business."

Alexander Li, the creator of the petition on the Change.org website, said "the cabinet should be led by a person who is competent, educated and cares about the country."

Medvedev was lampooned earlier this year for telling a woman receiving a small pension payment on a visit to Crimea, “Hang in there! Cheer up, and good health!”

Medvedev introduced a law making it obligatory for the government to consider any petition that gains over 100,000 signatories on a government-run website, AP reported, adding that no such petition calling for Medvedev to resign was visible on that site Friday.

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