Temp teachers decry late payments
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Tuesday August 23, 2022 06:00
One such teacher who preferred anonymity told The Monitor they could go up to the 18th day of the month without having received their last month’s salaries. This has inconvenienced a lot of these temporary teachers as a number of them get kicked out of their rented houses.
They also fail to pay debts on time.
She said whenever they try to raise their concerns over late payments, they are always told that the region does not have money. However, when addressing Parliament on this issue recently, the Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Aubrey Lesaso said temporary teachers unlike permanent teachers were to be paid on the last day of the month to avoid a situation whereby an officer is paid in advance for days not worked for and for whatever reason fails to work those days.
“I am aware that the Employment Act states that the employee should not be paid later than the third day of the month. However, the salaries for temporary teachers are processed on the last day of every month and hence there is a delay. My ministry will continue to endeavour to process their salaries in the shortest time possible after the last day of the month to avoid any inconvenience.
My ministry is sourcing funds to pay severance benefits for temporary teachers,” he said. He explained that his ministry employed a total of 3,086 temporary teachers. He added that it owes a total of P4,717,770.23 in severance benefits for officers across the country where Kweneng owes P1,703,434.60, Central — P154, 191.41, South East — P540,520.66, Southern — P569,678.35, Kgalagadi — P10,2142, North West — P1,371,728.05 and North — East P368,075. He, however, pointed out that other regions like Chobe, Gantsi, and Kgatleng do not owe severance benefits. He also said explained that temporary teachers were not paid when school closes because they are paid for the job they do at a particular time.
He added that under the current law, teachers don’t work when schools close and therefore, forcing his ministry to pay them hourly depending on the time they worked. He said he would consider if they could pay them even when schools are closed.
Lesaso's response comes after Palapye legislator, Onneetse Ramogapi asked for the total amount of severance benefits owed per sub-region and what causes the delay in paying them.
He also asked if Lesaso was aware that the Employment Act states that the employee should not be paid later than the third day of every month and if so, what was he doing to remedy the situation.
Ramogapi also asked if the delayed payment of severance benefits would be paid with interest, taking into consideration the erosion of purchasing power. He also said it was disheartening that whenever schools close, temporary teachers’ contracts get terminated, which puts them in dire situations.