No Deductions for Rally for Government Schools

And what about salaries for those government teachers who rallied in Belmopan in March? Minister Faber says he has received word but nothing official from the different school managements that those teachers will not receive pay for participating in the anti-crime rally.  The B.N.T.U. National President Elena Smith has also said that the union will be withholding contributions to management indefinitely as a consequence of the salary deductions.  Here’s what Faber had to say on the B.N.T.U.’s decision to hold off contributions to the managements that dock salaries.

Reporter

“Will teachers who participated in the demonstration from March from the Government schools, will their salaries be docked?”

Patrick Faber

Patrick Faber, Minister of Education

“Not to my knowledge. We have given no such instruction. I will tell you that in fact there are managements who have they will do that but we have received no formal submissions and so we will have to wait and see.”

Reporter

“What is your reaction to the B.N.T.U.’s response that if that does happen, they will stop contributions to school managements?”

Patrick Faber

“I won’t get into that; that’s not the Ministry’s or Government’s business. But, as a practicing Christian Anglican at that and I used to teach under the church – state system, no union can tell me not to give to my church. And what I understand those contributions to be are members of the church who are employed by their management. So, what I suspect will happen even, because the Unions don’t authorize for the deductions to be done, those teachers on an individual basis authorize for those deductions to be done. So, the Union can say what they want. I bet you it will translate into a personal relationship between those teachers and their church and they will work that out without any kind of interference from anywhere.”