Today all Roman Catholic School Teachers in the Orange Walk district took a holiday. They're protesting because they didn't get paid as they should have on Friday. Apparently, there's a glitch in the system - caused by incomplete information sent to the ministry form the schools management. That stopped the payment at treasury which could not reconcile information with only a few teachers who had come off study leave and were going to full pay. But those few omissions stopped the pay for all catholic school primary teachers countrywide. A very major glitch - and today Minister Patrick Faber told the media that it's been worked out:...
Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
"Apparently what had happed is there are some teachers who were on study leave collecting 80% of their pay and so on and the submission from the management to the ministry for their payroll was to bring up some of these people back to 100% after completing their study leave. That required of course permission from the Teaching Services Commission and that permission was never sought. There was a check by our ministry, but it wasn't caught. It was submitted to the Treasury and the Treasury caught the problem and sent it back."
"We had to send it back to the management and tell them that they need to get the permission from the Teaching Services Commission to get them added on."
"In the past what has happened is that we know that the Treasury normally just pay those people at the old rate (80%) and continues with the entire payroll. In this instance that was not done."
"If there must be blamed, I think everybody can share some of the blame in terms of the management, the ministry and then the people at the treasury who I am understanding may well have done things differently."
"By after 3 this afternoon the full payment has been made as it relates to the Roman Catholic teachers."
Jules Vasquez
"So it's in and available right now?"
Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
"I am not sure if its available for them to collect right away, but as I've said tomorrow as our release said; urban teachers will receive half day. The rural school will receive the full day so that they can of course pick up their cheques and also to do their transaction."
"I will point out that many of the teachers did take the time-off on Friday when in fact it's against the ministry's policy, but I will not dwell too much on that because we are in negotiations now with the union to work out that longstanding problem of teachers taking time-off in areas that have not been approved by the ministry on that last Friday of the month."
"There were some teachers who took that time-off on Friday although they did not get paid. They took off today because they did not get paid and then they will be happy to take off the time, I am sure, that is granted by the ministry then to worked out the issue."
Reporter
"That email that they were going to be paid by Tuesday came out yesterday evening at 6:35. How come teachers still didn't go to school today? does it speak to some kind of negative sentiment against the ministry?"
Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
"I am telling you that there probably is. Indeed teachers were encourage not to go to school today when they knew fully well - because of our releases both on Friday and late yesterday evening that the pay would still not be ready until possibly Tuesday."
Jules Vasquez
"Is there any concern that anyone has there for teaching, for students - the kids?"
Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
"The teachers who I did hear this morning - that's one of their main points; they are saying that they care for the students. Of course they are saying that they will make up the time as well and this is the age-old argument of those teachers who insist even though they live in urban centers - to get a half/full day off in order to go to the bank. This is an argument that is going on and I maintain that we are living in a kind of age now - this is the only profession where you hear that. Any other job that you hold, you don't get an afternoon off or a full day off for that matter to go and collect your pay and go to pay your water and light bills - no other job."
"When I say these things of course I get into trouble as I probable already done,"
Faber says that they are putting measures in place to make sure that this doesn't happen again - but he can't guarantee that it won't.
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