Task force to look into teachers salary issues

A task force has been established to investigate discrepancies in the salaries of teachers amid the implementation of the Government’s new compensation regime.

Robert Morgan, Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Information in the Office of the Prime Minister, made the disclosure at a post-cabinet press briefing this morning.  

Morgan stated that the Minister of Education, in consultation with the Minister of Finance, moved to set up the task force to reach a resolution quickly.  

“There is work being done. There is a recognition that there are challenges within the payment system as it relates to compensation and that is being addressed by the task force,” he said. 

In a recent Gleaner interview, president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association La Sonja Harrison predicted that more teachers will leave the sector in the coming months amid frustration over continued discrepancies with their salaries.

She said the majority of teachers who have been receiving incorrect salaries are those who have been in sector for between 25 and 40 years.

“Those teachers are crying. Those teachers are not happy at all because even the payment that they were to receive last month has not materialised...There are nuances to the teaching profession coming out of the compensation review that have not left the teachers encouraged. They have not been motivated,” she said. 

Harrison accused the education and finance ministries of being lethargic in addressing what she said were “very serious” concerns.

- Sashana Small 

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