Teachers frustrated over non-payment of SBA fees
TEACHERS WHO were engaged in the marking of school-based assessments (SBAs) for last year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations say they are yet to be paid.
Their frustration is compounded by what they described as the “disrespectful silence” from the Overseas Examinations Commission (OEC) and the Ministry of Education and Youth on the payment delay, even as they are expected to mark the SBAs for the 2024 May-June examination period.
“The silence is disrespectful, the teachers feel disrespected,” an exam coordinator, who requested anonymity, told The Gleaner.
SBAs are an internal assessment component which consists of a set of assignments carried out by the student following guidelines provided by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and assessed by the teacher using criteria provided by CXC.
According to the exam coordinator, schools would have submitted information on the number of teachers who were engaged in the marking of SBAs, the number of SBAs marked and the money to be remitted to the school, to the OEC from October last year, with the anticipation that payment would be made by January the latest.
“To date, we have not received any formal communication why the monies have not been paid to the teachers,” the facilitator said.
“And now 2024 exams are coming, teachers are being expected now to mark these SBAs and upload them by this month, and we’re still asking what happened to the payment from last year.”
The payment for teachers who mark these assessments was increased from $300 to $500 per SBA last year. The coordinator, in noting the raise, shared that it was one welcomed by her colleagues.
But while stating that teachers are “very upset”, the exam coordinator said their students’ interest will guide their decisions.
“If it wasn’t for that, it would jeopardise the students from getting their grades, I don’t think the teachers would mark it,” she said.
In the meantime, Lynton Weir, principal of Old Harbour High School, has labelled the delay in payment as a “disappointment”.
DISAPPOINTED
“It is very important that when our teachers work they should be paid and they should be paid on time. I am very disappointed that the teachers would have done their work and here it is, we are now approaching another exam period and the teachers have not received payment,” he said. “It’s very disheartening and it’s very bad.”
An official at the OEC told The Gleaner that the agency was awaiting documentation from the Ministry of Education so that the funds can be released to schools.
The official also said the change in fee for the marking of SBAs posed some “challenges”, but noted that teachers are usually paid around this time.
Meanwhile, Leighton Johnson, president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association, said the organisation has been advocating to ensure that the fringe benefit lobbied for in 2018 remains intact.
“We are anticipating word from the Ministry of Education when this amount will be remitted to schools for our teachers to receive this,” he said.
He outlined that Jamaica spearheaded the negotiation of this benefit, which he said other Caribbean countries are looking to emulate.
“The practice is now becoming widespread… throughout the CTU (Caribbean Union of Teachers) and this is something that we will continue to advocate and lobby for. We will not give up this benefit, this is something that we feel is essential to our teachers and we’re not about to give up on this particular benefit,” he said.
Johnson shared that the agency will be meeting with the Ministry of Education this week, where this matter will be at the “top of the agenda”.