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Philipsburg, Sint Maarten — The President of the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) Stuart Johnson sent an e-mail earlier today to both the Honorable Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs and Minister of Education Rudolph Samuel covering a number of concerns affecting the education sector in St. Maarten.

Johnson stated, The vacation allowance payment for the subsidized school boards remains a huge concern for me.As President of the WITU, I must reiterate our stance as it gives the semblance of discriminatory in nature as it continues to affect the teaching fraternity of St.Maarten.

He added, I thought before having to write this e-mail that the payment of all vacation allowances for subsidized school boards including all outstanding amounts for Public Education would have been resolved.

Johnson in his e-mail asked,

What is the official status of the payment of the vacation allowance for subsidized school
boards? When will all outstanding amounts of the vacation allowance be paid out to Public Education employees? Are you aware of your colleague Minister of Finance Mr. Ardwell Irion and Minister of VROMI Mr. Egbert Doran meeting with various school boards? If so, what is the exact outcome of these meetings? Are the meetings being held by your colleague Ministers part of executing a decision made by the Council of Ministers? In the spirit of transparency, what is the nature of the discussion your colleague Ministers are having with subsidized school boards? Has the vacation allowance been removed for the school year 2022/2023? If so what is thereason for its removal and by whom was it ordered to be removed?

Johnson added, I look forward to hearing from you as the quality of education and the lack of proper handling of this matter continues to affect our members.

We expect all subsidized school boards to make the necessary payment of the vacation allowance. Additionally, we expect all outstanding amounts owed to the public education employees are also paid inclusive of the Cost of Living payment dating back to 2012.

Lastly, I trust the vacation allowance for the schoolyear 2022/2023 will be received as expected, Johnson concluded.

Silveria Jacobs mentioned 1 time
Stuart Johnson mentioned 1 time
Ardwell Irion mentioned 1 time