Mahdia headmaster awaits long overdue payments

Sep 07, 2013 News

…regional authorities say there are discrepancies

Having served as the Head Master for the Mahdia Primary School for the past year, Wayne Robinson is contemplating turning in his resignation; he has been forced, on more than one occasion, to cover for expenses that, by ordinance, should be incurred by the Ministry of Education.
Prior to serving as head master in the hinterland region, Robinson explained that he had served in the capacity for the past seven years and is well informed of the obligations of the Ministry towards transferred teachers.

Mahdia Primary School Head Master, Wayne Robinson.

He said that in accordance with an agreement between the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and the Ministry of Education, travel expenses into and out of the Region should be covered by the Ministry, for any teacher that has been transferred to work in the hinterland. This is in addition to allowances that go towards the provision of the teacher’s spouse and two children below the age of 18.
Robinson said since his appointment as head master of the Mahdia Primary School to present, this agreement has not been honoured. He made known that at the end of every term; his family would travel out of Mahdia to their East Coast Demerara home and back.
He said that each trip would, on average, cost $75,000; a sum that he has been forced to cover personally. This he said has been causing him strain; as the travelling expenses are not catered for in his list of primary obligations and he is still required to maintain his family.
The head master explained that upon return from his vacations, he would “do all the necessaries” by filling up the relevant claim forms and submitting them to the Regional Education Office (Region Eight). Having already submitted claims for the past Christmas and Easter Vacations, the Head Teacher said he is yet to receive a reimbursement.
He said that he is of the opinion that he is being “pushed around”, since repeated attempts to confront the root of the problem, why he has not received at least one payment, has been to no avail.
The head master is convinced that the “attack” on him is personal since, according to him, “every other teacher is being paid for their travel expenses”.
Robinson made known that “teachers that are his juniors” are even being issued plane tickets for their entry and exit into the Region, whereas, “the appointed HM is being treated like the lowest class.” The HM said that he has no choice other than to use buses to travel into and out of the Region.
He reported that everyone with whom he has solicited assistance has “promised to look into the matter” but have not contacted him since.
The Regional Education Office said that it was informed that due to a “problem” with some of his claims, Robinson’s payments could not be issued. According to education officer, Rabindra Singh, the HM would have to “sort out his problem with the accountant, first.”
Kaieteur News understands that Robinson’s claims were subjected to querying in order to ensure that the HM had indeed spent money to travel out of the Region before claiming for a reimbursement.
Regional Executive Officer of Region Eight, Ronald Harsawack, acknowledged that the claims were initially sent to his office for approval; however, the forms were put under scrutiny since the Accounts Department found a number of discrepancies and disparities within them, particularly the dates and figures stated.
The REO said that as a result, the claims were sent back to the Regional Education Office in order to clarify and confirm the information stated. Harsawack said once the clarification process is “straightened out”; the HM will receive his payments.
In the event that the information stated in the claims is false, however, the REO said that the teacher can be charged for a breach of GTU regulations by falsifying documents.

1 thoughts on “Mahdia headmaster awaits long overdue payments”

Linden Sinclair September 7, 2013 at 4:36 am

Excuses and more excuses, a scoundry with a culture of victimization for not joining their parties

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