Philipsburg:--- President of the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) Claire Elshot told reporters on Thursday during WICLU's weekly press briefing that she is concerned about the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) payments that were paid to the civil servants while the teachers of government subsidized schools have not been paid yet. Elshot said she mentioned this to the Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt when she first met with him on July 10th, she asked the Minister to do his best to ensure this does not happen.
The WITU President said she was shocked to learn from several school boards that the Ministry of Finance did not even provide them with information regarding the COLA payments. She said that basic information such as the percentage which is 3.2% was not given to the school boards so that they can have their accountants process the payments in a timely manner.
Elshot further explained that the teachers and civil servants received their June salaries and COLA payments in separate payrolls. Elshot said that she received a number of emails and messages via Facebook regarding the payments that were made. Those messages and phone calls came from teachers working at the Government subsidized schools.
Elshot said at least six school boards did not receive the information leaving close to 600 teachers without their monies. Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt announced on Wednesday that the COLA payments were made and that his Ministry was busy working on the payments for the various subsidized school boards. She said that these teachers' COLA payments are now in limbo because the union cannot even tell the teachers when these payments will be made. Elshot said that she has been advocating that education workers be given equal treatment. "Right now, one third of my members received their monies and two thirds did not and this has left me with mixed feelings."
Elshot told reporters that she also got information that the pensioners also did not get their cost of living adjustments. "I really don't know why the pensioners were forgotten. I want the general public as well as government to know that the pensioners of today were the workers of yesterday therefore the workers of today will be the pensioners of tomorrow, so tomorrow when I am a pensioner I don't want to be left out of anything. These people have given 35 to 40 years of public service and they should not be left out of anything that is entitled to them."
Elshot said the union intends to send a letter to Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt, Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams, and various School Boards regarding her concerns.
WITU Board Met with Education Minister --- Several Issues discussed.
President of the Windward Island Teachers Union Claire Elshot announced on Thursday during WICLU's weekly press briefing that the board of the WITU met with the Minister of Education last week Thursday afternoon. Elshot said the union managed to raise several points of concerns to the Minister one of which was the appointment of school managers.
Elshot said at the time the Minister told the WITU that while she was given an advice to decide on and she did not take a decision on the candidates that were recommended for the positions. Elshot congratulated the two persons that were appointed namely Stuart Johnson who was appointed school manager of Martin Luther King Jr. School and Sonia Parrot Warner at the Oranje School. However, the union is calling upon any person who felt that they were not treated fairly with the nomination process to file an appeal. "There is a procedure to follow and if you applied and felt you were bypassed you should file an appeal and the WITU will assist with the process."
Construction work at schools affecting teachers.
Elshot said she also informed the Minister that several teachers have been complaining about the construction work that has been ongoing for the past two years at the Marie Genevieve de Weever School and the Minister promised that the construction work at that school will be completed by August 13th when school reopens. The WITU President said that she also informed the Minister about the teachers' concerns regarding the maintenance of some of the schools on the island. One such school is the Oranje School that is located on Front Street. Elshot said the teachers believe that since the Oranje School is a tourist attraction on Front Street then it should be maintained during the summer vacation. "At least painting the outer side of the school will make it look more presentable." Elshot said the Minister informed the union that three schools on the island will be undergoing some major repairs. Those schools are Charles Leopold Bell School, Prins Willem Alexander School, and the Marie Genevieve de Weever School. She explained that while construction of another wing is in process at the Marie Genevieve School, repairs have to be done on the old structure.
Elshot said the union also expressed concerns on how the foreign degrees are being evaluated. She said the Minister of Education and the Minister of Labour have an agreement whereby all teachers who are in this predicament will get a renewal of their work and residency permit for one year. The agreement she said is temporary until the teachers upgrade themselves by partaking in various courses that are offered on the island. She said that the teachers on St. Maarten attended the FBE trainings but to date they have not been re-certified. This re-certification did not take place even though they participated in all of the courses that were offered to them. Elshot said as soon as the Minister returns from the Netherlands she would have to deal with the re-certification because there are a number of teachers that completed the cycle 1 and 2 FBE program. The WITU President said that while the processing and payment for the evaluation of the degrees are done locally, the actually evaluation is done by someone in Curacao who does not work in the interest of St. Maarten. "Some of our teachers went to USM to see if they could further upgrade themselves and they were told that the degree they are holding from several Caribbean nations are higher that what St. Maarten offers, but the problem is that the Dutch has refused to recognized these institutions."
Elshot said teachers that possess degrees from the University of West Indies (UWI) are having problems with the evaluation process. She said that it is time for St. Maarten to begin offering more courses so that teachers could continue to upgrade themselves. She also said the Minister informed the union that the teachers training program at USM will be fully subsidized.
