Teachers Unpaid for Months: BNTU Calls Out Ministry for Salary Discrepancies

Tonight, one educator is facing the foreclosure of her home while another says she’s on the verge of a breakdown after not receiving months’ worth of salaries. Today, the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) held a press conference stating that over one hundred members are yet to be paid for September, while a handful have been waiting even longer. According to the BNTU, approximately 130 teachers have been inconvenienced due to discrepancies in the ministry’s payment system. They say that the issue lies with the renewal of licenses and the number of professional development hours needed to qualify. Before July, teachers would have been removed from the ministry’s payment system if they didn’t have a hard copy of their license. However, the ministry realized some teachers would have to wait an entire month for their renewal to be approved or couldn’t complete the required CPD hours quickly enough. The ministry then instructed school managements not to remove teachers who did not meet the requirements or were awaiting renewal unless instructed by the Chief Education Officer. And, despite several of the teachers obtaining their licenses before the start of the school year, over a hundred were removed from the system. BNTU President Nadia Caliz says that while they are working to resolve the issue, the union believes it was a deliberate attack on their members. 

And while most of the educators are awaiting last month’s salary, Kimberly Lopez, a teacher at All Saint’s Anglican Primary School, hasn’t been paid for almost five months. Lopez spoke to the media about some of the hardships educators face and why she hasn’t been able to receive her paychecks. 

We also heard from Janelle Cacho, a teacher at St. Joseph R.C. in Cotton Tree Village, Cayo District. In January, she was forced to step out of the classroom because she didn’t have the required 120 CPD hours and didn’t return to teaching until June. However, even though she was able to renew her license and was being paid before the new school year, she was removed from the ministry’s payment system. 

Caliz says Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde has assured them that the affected teachers will receive payment no later than Friday. Notably, up to news time, the Ministry of Education had yet to issue a response or statement on the matter.