Francine Black, Staff Reporter
THE JAMAICA Teachers' Association (JTA) has informed the Ministry of Education that the specialist and trained teachers who it overpaid millions of dollars, will not be returning the outstanding money, having received legal advice on the issue.
In a letter dated Wednesday, December 3, the JTA which represents most of the island's government-employed teachers, informed Permanent Secretary Marguerite Bowie, the ministry's chief executive officer, that its lawyer had advised that the ministry "had no legal basis" on which to demand payment, given the number of years that had elapsed.
RECOVERY PROCEDURE
The Gleaner obtained a copy of another letter written by the Finance Ministry to Mrs. Bowie a month ago outlining how the funds should be recovered but asking that the recovery procedure should not be "onerous or too long."
The Finance Ministry suggested that the process take no longer than two years, and that salary arrears that were owed to teachers be targeted at the outset, with deductions of 25 to 50 per cent.
The letter, signed by Kathryn Thompson on behalf of the Financial Secretary, Shirley Tyndall, stated however that the procedure had to be agreed to by both parties, and must be based on the individual teacher's ability to pay.
However, the Education Ministry began making the deductions without notifying the teachers, and the JTA got wind of it and objected.
Both parties subsequently began discussion, and yesterday, despite having advised the Education Ministry that it had no legal obligation to reclaim the money, the JTA said it was still willing to meet with Education Ministry officials to settle the issue.
"We hope that the ministry will seriously consider and accept the advice offered by our counsel," the JTA's letter states.
Patrick Smith, the JTA's senior secretary, told The Gleaner yesterday that the association was prepared to go as far as taking out an injunction against the Education Ministry if it failed to cease its recovery efforts.
The Education Ministry has given no indication of the amount it is attempting to recoup from the teachers, but indications are that it runs into millions of dollars.
Attempts to get a comment from the Ministry of Education on the JTA's latest position were unsuccessful.
The overpayment resulted from what has been described by Senator Noel Monteith, Minister of State for Education, as an erroneous recording of salary scales following the ministry's reclassification in 1995.
Teachers in 29 pay scales are said to be affected, with those in the specialist and trained teacher categories having the largest number a total of 140.
Mr. Smith said that initially when the JTA intervened in the matter, the association had made it clear to the Education Ministry that full recovery was not possible. However, the ministry was insisting otherwise, he said, resulting in the current impasse.
According to Mr. Smith there are cases where some teachers were being forced to make alternative arrangements concerning remittances for their mortgages, insurance payments, and arrangements with other financial institutions, because they could not afford to meet their payments from the smaller salaries they are now receiving.
He said that asking them to repay money was an added financial burden.The JTA said this was an unreasonable request since the teachers were not responsible for the mistake.",p>Since it has been accepted that the teachers are not to be blamed for the overpayment to them, it is unreasonable for them to be required to repay those substantial funds," the JTA's December 3 letter stated.
