Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, is urging school administrators to be vigilant in ensuring that non-teaching staff receive the benefits that they are due.

He said that “somebody must take the responsibility to follow up” in order to prevent delays in the distribution of payments such as pension.

The Minister was speaking during an interview with JIS News, while on a tour of the St. Catherine-based Ewarton High School on June 10.

The issue of compensation for non-academic staff was among matters discussed at a recent meeting between officials of the Ministry and trade unions representing the workers.

These employees, which include groundsmen, janitors, and canteen staff, are often taken on contractually by the school and are not paid by the Ministry.

Minister Reid indicated that he will be having dialogue with the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and the Cabinet to provide schools with a clear policy on the hiring of these workers.

He noted that when persons are employed “outside of the establishment” pension benefits “can become a sore issue”.

“This is the case with a lot of schools, particularly high schools, and the Ministry will have to articulate a clear policy and give guidelines to schools, as to how this matter is to be treated,” he told JIS News.

The Minister, in the meantime, said that the meeting with the union representatives was fruitful.

“We are happy for the meeting and have committed ourselves to continue working with them to make sure that the issues raised are addressed,” he said.

Source: Jamaica Information Service