In other government news, the BNTU has written to the Prime Minister asking for a meeting after they say they've been getting reports from their teachers that some of their salaries have not been paid for months. Their president Nadia Caliz stated that the union was prepared to activate industrial action.
When we asked the Minister of Education, he explained that it's basically a big miscommunication.
Oscar Requena, Ministry of Education
"I was briefed on the matter, I believe it was on Friday and as far as I understand it, I believe it was last year around December, there were some teachers who were owed some funds in some instances there may have been salary adjustments, some of it may have been hardship amounts, other allowances that teachers receive. My understanding that at the time, a decision was made that teachers would have been advanced the monies with the understanding that they would have to pay back, it wasn't a grant they were given but rather an advance and that they would have to pay back the money. My understanding is that the financial center I believe last week made those deductions. I believe the issue may have been where there may have been some miscommunication and I think that should have been communicated in a timely manner to the teachers so of course they knew that at some point they had to pay. I think the issue was that they may not have been aware that everything would have been taken out at the date when it was done so that's a matter that we are working out and certainly let me say from the onset that we understand, I understand the concerns, the issues that teachers have because the truth of the matter, teachers don't get a lot of pay, a lot of money, and they have their budget, they schedule out their budget so certainly when you see something coming out, and they did not receive enough prior notification, it is a concern. I'm hoping that this matter can be address very soon so that we can move on."
