By: Marlene Freeman

The Ministry of Education has noted that leave approvals for over 2 thousand teachers, cost Government about $7.87 billion dollars for the upcoming academic year.

In a statement, the Ministry said 2,026 teachers were approved, across four categories of leave, following a thorough review of 2,860 applications.

This is a decline, when compared to 2,978 applications for academic year 2022 / 2023; and 3,197 applications, for the 2024 / 2025 academic year.

The $7.87 billion, includes both direct leave payments and the cost of temporary staff replacements, to ensure continuity of instruction in schools.

Among the approved leave categories are; four months vacation leave, eight months vacation leave, study leave and leave prior to retirement.

An additional 91 teachers were approved for eight months vacation leave, despite exceeding the 10 percent statutory quota.

This exception was made to facilitate all teachers who were at the maximum of their leave entitlement and a denial would have negatively affected future entitlements, had they not proceeded on leave this academic year.

Additionally, six non-academic staff members across three regions have been granted study leave, at an estimated cost of $17.7 million.

Permanent Secretary Dr. Kasan Troupe stated that the Ministry has honoured its statutory obligations as outlined in the education regulations, due to budgetary provisions approved by the Government.

Dr. Troupe applauded the work of school boards and principals who facilitated the reviews and initial recommendations for further deliberations at the ministry level.

She further stated that even with the significant allocation, all the applicants could not be accommodated within the statutory quota.

She outlined that teachers whose applications were not approved may submit appeals through the established administrative process to be considered on a case-by-case basis, subject to budgetary provisions.