Free National Movement (FNM) South Beach candidate Jeffrey Lloyd said yesterday the failure of the government to pay more than 100 supply teachers in several months saddens him and is a "blatant display of disrespect" to educators of this country.
"Teachers form a necessary foundation in our youth that becomes the bedrock of our society," said Lloyd, who FNM Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis has said would be made education minister if the FNM becomes the next government.
"Without the sacrifices of these men and women who left retirement to come back to a profession many have devoted their entire life to, many of our young people would be subject to impossible learning situations.
"How have we repaid them? We have shouted from the tops of our lungs that they simply do not matter.
"We have expressed to them that we care more about Christmas decorations and explicit dance parties than we do about them."
Lloyd said these men and woman have been mistreated along with countless others by a government he deems "worthless".
"I cry shame on the blaring silence from the ministers responsible for this blatant display of disrespect," he said.
"The public demands to know why these educators have gone for months without payment, and the minister of education is once again silent when he should speak.
"It is my hope that with a new year, this government will at the very least, do what is right and just by these educators, and ensure that they are paid."
When contacted, Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) Acting President Joan Knowles-Turnquest said, despite assurances from representatives in the Ministry of Finance in early December that the supply teachers would be paid, the matter has not been resolved to date.
For the 100-plus teachers, some of whom have already expressed a desire to resign, Knowles-Turnquest said it is a "really terrible" situation.
"I don't know how many persons go a month without being paid and can go to the bank and you will incur no charges for late fees," she said.
"I cannot go to BEC (the Bahamas Electricity Corporation) or any other utility company and say the government has not paid us.
"We are going to be communicating with the ministry to see how they can lend some support and we are going to try to reach out to the prime minister again."
Knowles-Turnquest questioned how the government can expect students to get the best education with a lack of manpower that "simply boils down to paying people who have worked, many of them beyond the required hours".
"Aside from the fact that people are working and not being paid, what is going to happen if the supply teachers decide they will not go back to school? And a number of them have said that, so we are again going to be left with a shortage of teachers," she said.
She added, "The slap in the face is there is never an explanation given to us."
Knowles-Turnquest said the union has attempted to contact Prime Minister Perry Christie numerous times to address the matter.
She said the union plans to discuss the matter internally to see how best it can reach a resolution. She was unable to say how much the supply teachers are collectively owed, but noted that it is thousands and thousands of dollars.
In September, former Minister of Education Desmond Bannister called on Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald to detail teacher shortages in each public school in the nation after Fitzgerald expressed concerns about the "unexpected" early retirement applications from over 100 public school teachers.
But Bannister called the shortage "scandalous", pointing to the thousands of young students who would be impacted if the shortages were not appropriately addressed.
Calls placed to officials in the ministries of education and finance were not returned up to press time.

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