Education minister promises payment of overtime by the end of the month

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Education minister promises payment of overtime by the end of the month

6:41 CAT | 13 Oct 2017

O País (File photo)

Minister for Education and Human Development Conceita Sortane said yesterday that teachers would have to continue working overtime in public education because there was not enough money to hire new teachers.

“Overtime will continue to be a fact of life, because our school network has grown and the number of students is also increasing,” the minister said, after depositing a wreath in honour of the national heroes as part of Teacher’s Day celebrations.

According to the minister, the country continues to need more teachers and next year will be no different.

Commenting on recent strikes over overtime pay arrears which closed schools in Gaza for a week, Sortane said that delays in payment were country-wide and the search for a solution was ongoing.

“We are not just talking about Gaza. In almost every province, we have problems with overtime, but the process is moving forward. We have already sent figures to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. I believe that by the end of October we will have addressed the 2017 overtime problem,” she said.

Minister Sortane said overtime arrears for previous years would then be paid. “We have hours referring to 2015 and 2016. We also have some provinces with one or two months of overtime for the year 2014,” Sortane said.

According to the National Teachers’ Organisation, the situation of teachers in Gaza is being monitored and some progress has been made.

“The information we have is that overtime is being paid gradually. We are doing a nationwide survey to find out the exact number of teachers who have not been paid, so we can take action and negotiate with the government,” ONP general secretary Francisco Nogueira said.

The UNICEF-Mozambican “Budget Report 2017: Education” indicates that there have been no major changes in the teacher-student ratio in the country, but the Ministry of Education and Human Development says it plans to hire 7,000 teachers for the 2018 academic year.

Source: O País