After being assured their salaries would be in their bank accounts on Tuesday, some temporary public school teachers have still not been paid.
On Wednesday evening, president of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell reported he had received a number of complaints from the teachers from at least four schools that they did not get their money as promised by the Ministry of Education.
“It is unfortunate because teachers have commitments to meet and have financial obligations to their families and it will affect their mental health until they are paid what is due to them,” he said.
In a statement issued on Monday after receiving reports that some teachers had not been paid, Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw said instructions were given to ensure that unappointed teaching staff received their salaries by the end of the working day on Tuesday.
“The ministry has instructed the affected schools to undertake urgent processing of payments to ensure that teachers receive their salaries by the end of the business day on Tuesday, the 26th of September, 2023,” she said, explaining that ministry investigations had revealed that the late pay was a result of “the late receipt or, in some instances, the non-receipt of recommendations for continuation of acting assignments for the affected teachers”.
Reports supporting recommendations to allow continuation of acting assignments are due by the end of the academic year. Additionally, recommendations for continuation are to be endorsed by the Board of Management and submitted for approval before teachers can be added to the payroll for the new academic year.
Archer-Bradshaw said the majority of the recommendations were received by the ministry after the deadline for the payroll cycle.
Lovell said the situation was unacceptable and while the issue was not new, this was the worst record of temporary teachers not being paid.
“This is totally unacceptable, at one school there were 26 teachers who were not paid on time. This process needs to be rectified and it also shows that there are too many unappointed teachers in the system,” he said.
“The process requires a valuation of temporary teachers to be sent to the ministry for approval of reassignment and we are of the opinion that teachers should be appointed after three years, without having any adverse report written against them. This would also reduce the occurrence of this happening.”
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
