Ministry keeps its word on teachers’ payments

THE MINISTRY of Education is keeping its promise to pay increments owed to teachers by the end of September, with over 100 teachers expected to be paid by the end of this month. In a three-page advertisement in yesterday’s Newsday, the ministry published the names of the 100 plus teachers due to receive their monies by Monday next week, the names of those whose liability statements are ready and the names of those whose worksheets have been prepared and sent to the National Information System Centre (nisc).

The ministry said teachers to be paid by August 30 will bring the total number of teachers to be paid their increments to 530. The ministry has also compiled a list of dozens of other teachers whose liability statements have been completed. Those teachers listed in the advertisement are advised to collect their statements from the Help Desk, Liabilities Unit, Finance and Accounts Division at 17-19 Pembroke Street, Port-of-Spain. The ministry also advised teachers who wanted an “ease in the processing” to inform the Help Desk. It said those whose surnames start with the letters A-M “can collect their statements between the hours of 9 am to 11.30 pm, while those whose surnames start with the letters N-Z are to collect their statements from 1 pm to 3.30 pm, Monday to Friday.

An estimated 149 teachers have also been told by the ministry that their worksheets have been completed and have been sent to the NISC. Those teachers are being asked to call the Help Desk at 627-7212 to provide further information as to when their statements would be ready. Other teachers whose queries have been resolved are asked to make arrangements with the Help Desk to get an appointment to discuss the matter. The ministry promised those teachers whose names have not appeared in the advertisement, that a further advertisement will be placed before September 4 to advise them of the processing status of their statements.

Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Angella Jack met with officials of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) last month to discuss payment of the arrears, and had assured them then that some 365 teachers were to receive their monies by the end of this month, with complete payment of all teachers by the end of September. The increments are for the period 1987 to 1995.