Allowance Will be Paid Soon
Teachers of subsidized schools can rest assured that they will soon receive the 1% increase in vacation allowance which has already been paid out to civil servants, and their colleagues in the public schools.
This assurance was given by Minister of Finance Marinka Gumbs in response to the
many calls she has been receiving from these teachers. “I have been receiving numerous calls
and messages from teachers at the subsidized schools asking about their payment of the 1%
vacation allowance,” Minister Gumbs said.
“I think it’s unfair that knowing that June is when they normally get their vacation
allowance that this was not taken into consideration by the previous government. Hence, that is
why I am working on making sure that this matter is resolved as soon as possible.”
Given that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (ECYS), has included
this allowance in the budget amendment for 2024, Minister Marinka Gumbs has decided to
explore ways to allocate this payment within the current 2024 budget.
It is negligent that the previous government included a 1% increase in vacation allowance
for all civil servants but failed to account for it in the 2024 budget for subsidized schools, said
the minister. This oversight also extends to the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) paid out in
December 2023, which was not included in the 2024 budget for these schools. It appears that
teachers in subsidized schools were overlooked.
Minister Gumbs said she finds it particularly unfair that the increased vacation allowance,
which was paid out in June 2024, was not paid to these teachers, and that they now must wait for
the budget amendment.
The law mandates that the vacation allowance should be paid out in June. Therefore, the
minister is committed to finding a way to disburse the vacation allowance as soon as possible
within the parameters of the current 2024 budget.