Education Minister Weighs In on Docking of Wages for Teachers and Public Officers

Francis Fonseca

In his interview with the press on Wednesday, Minister of Education Francis Fonseca also commented on the docking of wages for public officers and teachers who are on strike.  Fonseca outlined the parameters of this decision as was first confirmed by Prime Minister John Briceño last week.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education

“As it relates to public officers, obviously the government makes that determination, so the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of the Public Service as it relates to public officers makes that determination. In terms of teachers, the government schools of course fall under the management of the Ministry of Education, so there is a manager of government schools who falls under the ministry of education. So there is no confusion about that. It is the Ministry of Education that makes that determination through their manager, the manager of government schools. As it relates to other teachers who work for denominational managing authorities, it is the managing authorities who make that determination. They, under the education rules, have the discretion; they may or may not withhold salaries, deduct those wages. So, yes we’ve been very clear about that. I’ve said that from the very beginning. That is the case and we do have discussions with the managing authorities. There are discussions, but ultimately they make that determination as it relates to managing authorities of denominational schools.”