Eligible teachers, staff to be paid by end of financial year

Teachers and non-teaching staff who were successfully assessed under Government’s My Annual Performance Assessment (My APA) system for 20172018 and were deemed eligible, will be paid by the end of this financial year.

This will be backdated to the first pay in August 2018.

The confirmation came from the Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum yesterday in Parliament.

He said the moderation process for the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts took longer than anticipated because of the lack of substantiated work units.

This involves the assessment results from the school or departments which are used to compare with the claims made by individuals under My APA.

The sheer volume of the review, he said, also required a modified process to finalise the system.

“The Ministry of Education is the largest ministry as far as the employees are concerned,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

“In 2017, 2018 there were 14,244 civil servants in that ministry. Currently there are 14,027 out of which 13,449 are teachers and 578 non-teaching staff.”

He said moderation was a critical component of the performance management system because it ensured that employees were rewarded for measurable contribution to the achievements of the ministry, not just based on the perception of the supervisor.

He also stated that payments made under My APA are not pay rises, but are evidence and performance-based salary increment for eligible civil servants to reward improved or consistent performance.