'Teachers have been paid...

...and they will be paid.' That's what Education Minister Francis Fonseca had to say today about the Guardian's worrying headline which begged the question: "no pay for teachers?" Speaking with us via telephone this evening Fonseca said that "at the end of November, everything has been paid and government owes nobody." Fonseca went on to list the amounts that had been paid to different schools in salary and tuition grants at the end of November. And he also committed that teachers would receive their "Christmas pay" typically one month's salary on or around December 17th. Despite Fonseca's assurances, there are credible reports to 7NEWS out of secondary institutions indicating that they have had to dip into their bank accounts to compensate for funding shortfalls from government.