Some Teachers Receive Payment, B.N.T.U. says Distribution Process Flawed
The Government of Belize has started paying the overdue increments owed to teachers, but the battle isn’t over yet. On Friday, Belize National Teacher’s Union President Nadia Caliz mentioned that most teachers still hadn’t received their payments, even though the school managers had the funds. On Monday, CEO of the Ministry of Education Dian Maheia explained that the money is still being distributed and should reach the teachers soon. We asked Caliz for an update on the rollout of these payments. Here’s what she had to say.
On the Phone: Nadia Caliz
On the Phone: Caliz, President, B.N.T.U.
“ For the B.N.T.U. right now, we need to gather our own data. And by getting our own data, then we’ll be able to see that what the ministry said is correct. What I do know from our end is that some of our teachers are telling us that they have not received increments. Others are saying that they’re still waiting. But what I find very interesting is the conversation I’ve been having with some managers. They were first asked by the ministry to submit a list of names of the persons who were due increments. And they submitted those names. The list was sent back to them with either those names, some being taken up, and additional names being added on. Funding was then sent for those names. What some managers are also telling me is that they have the funds. The challenge that they are having is actually getting it to the teachers. What we from the B.N.T.U. are concerned about The mechanism being used to pay these teachers because they have to have documentation to show that these teachers receive these monies and that there’s a signature there to prove that while the ministry said that the managers will have to provide them with that same info, we want to make certain that it is actually our teachers who are receiving these funds and nobody else. At the end of the day, we our mandate is that teachers be paid their allowances and their increments. I also want to use this platform to tell my teachers, if you have not received the increment, you have not received the allowances, please go to your management so that they have a record of that. If you’re owed for years, go to your management so that they have a record of that. So after going to your management, I am going to encourage you to find all the education centers countrywide. There is one in every district and you also register the fact that you have not received your increments and you have not received your allowances because they need to have a true picture of who these teachers are just saying that it has been settled and it’s not with the management. Do they have a true picture? That’s the question. That is not really enough for us. We need numbers. The same way we’re going to be looking at our numbers, we need numbers from them as well. That is what we want.”
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