Education Minister Anthony Garcia yesterday denied that hundreds of contract workers are being dismissed from his ministry.
Although he admitted the ministry is experiencing financial difficulties, Garcia said: “There is absolutely no truth to the allegations that we are sending home approximately 250 workers at the Ministry of Education.”
He said no more than 75 people will be affected by the usual delays that occur during the time it takes for a note to be sent from the ministry to the Public Management Consulting Division (PMCD) of the Ministry of Public Administration before being forwarded to Cabinet.
Commenting what he described as public mischief, Garcia explained: “There are some of our employees who hold fixed-term contacts and in some of these cases, the period of their contacts has come to an end.
“Many of them were on contract to perform specific tasks and when those tasks were completed, their contacts would also have been completed. However, there are others whose contacts have also been completed but there is still a need for their services. We have placed them on month-to-month contracts so that they will not suffer any financial losses.”
The minister said it is up to Cabinet to decide on termination of a contractual period for these workers.
“There is a process we must follow before we take any note to Cabinet requesting new contacts,” he said.
On Friday, several of the affected workers claimed close to 250 of them were being sent home, including technical workers, school social workers and personnel from the Student Support Services Division.
Garcia said after the request from the ministry is received by the PMCD, they have a process to follow before submitting the note to Cabinet for new contracts.
“We will do nothing to cause distress to the employees who work hard. We recognise the value and worth of their contributions and we will always do everything possible to ensure their comfort,” he said.
Coaches going home too
Meanwhile, more than 20 coaches employed by the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs on contract are also uncertain about whether they will be recalled in time for the new school term in September.
Last September, seven specialist coaches were let go after their contracts ended and other coaches have been terminated since then.
The coaches were invited to meetings with various heads from the ministry in recent months and were advised to look out for advertisements in June about available vacancies but to date nothing has been posted.
“We are all on a limb and trying to figure out what is going on but nobody is giving us any answers. The new school term will begin on September 4 and we have to make provisions,” a spokesman for the coaches said.