Pay deal for teachers to be determined by Cabinet – Harmon

The proposed pay deal for teachers, including non-salaried benefits, which was submitted by a committee of government officials and the teachers’ union, would mean “serious financial implications,” Minister of State Joseph Harmon said Thursday.

The committee completed its work and submitted a report to the Ministry of Education in early April this year. Negotiations on a pay deal for teachers had been held over a three-year period.

The report submitted in April was sent to the Ministry of Finance for an assessment, Harmon stated.

“The matter was referred to Ministry of Finance because there are some very serious financial implications in the recommendations that were made by the committee,” Harmon told reporters at his post-Cabinet News Briefing at the Presidential Complex in Georgetown.

The Ministry of Finance has completed its assessment and that assessment will now have to be discussed at Cabinet for a determination to be made.

“So I want to say to our teachers who have been doing an excellent job with our children that we consider remuneration for teachers -we consider the entire package of benefits for teachers – to be important,” Harmon stated.

“He added: “We do not make any distinction either here or there with respect to our teachers because they are very valuable; they bring up our children.”