Dear Editor,
In August 2015, the then Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites made an announcement that the Government would offer free classes and pay for students who received grade four in mathematics and English A in the May 2015 sitting of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations. This decision was taken for the students to resit these exams in January 2016.
A number of teachers where then contracted from across the island to teach these students for two to three hours per week, per subject, for roughly 10 weeks, between October and December 11, 2015. When the teachers were contracted they were told to submit their claims by December 2015 so the process of payments could be sorted out.
We are presently at the end of August and the majority, if not all, of these teachers are still waiting to hear if they are actually going to be paid for the services rendered over seven months ago.
When contact was made with one of the specialised subject units of the ministry they were unable to give any information towards payment.after sometime you are directed to the Accounts Department, that department directs you to your regional office, which tells you they are awaiting a response from the Accounts Department. A veritable wild goose chase.
I don’t think this is fair to the teachers who taught these students. These students have got their results and are making plans for their future while the teachers are still unable to hear about payments.
Senator Ruel Reid, you are now the minister of education; just like everything else you have inherited this too. Please address this and let us get the monies that are due to us before the new initiatives that were announced come on stream. We await a response, Minister.
Wane Turner
bessblesswane@hotmail.com
In August 2015, the then Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites made an announcement that the Government would offer free classes and pay for students who received grade four in mathematics and English A in the May 2015 sitting of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations. This decision was taken for the students to resit these exams in January 2016.
A number of teachers where then contracted from across the island to teach these students for two to three hours per week, per subject, for roughly 10 weeks, between October and December 11, 2015. When the teachers were contracted they were told to submit their claims by December 2015 so the process of payments could be sorted out.
We are presently at the end of August and the majority, if not all, of these teachers are still waiting to hear if they are actually going to be paid for the services rendered over seven months ago.
When contact was made with one of the specialised subject units of the ministry they were unable to give any information towards payment.after sometime you are directed to the Accounts Department, that department directs you to your regional office, which tells you they are awaiting a response from the Accounts Department. A veritable wild goose chase.
I don’t think this is fair to the teachers who taught these students. These students have got their results and are making plans for their future while the teachers are still unable to hear about payments.
Senator Ruel Reid, you are now the minister of education; just like everything else you have inherited this too. Please address this and let us get the monies that are due to us before the new initiatives that were announced come on stream. We await a response, Minister.
Wane Turner
bessblesswane@hotmail.com