Education ministry to meet with bursars this week

In a bid to stave off possible strike action by school bursars, the Ministry of Education has agreed to meet with the bursars and their union, this week.

The National Workers Union, NWU, which represents the bursars, had written a letter to Education Minister Fayval Williams seeking a meeting to discuss the government's decision to phase out the system whereby teachers are paid through the bursar school system.

General Secretary of the NWU, Granville Valentine told Radio Jamaica News that the meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.

He warned that the dispute could end up before the Ministry of Labour.

Members of the Bursars Association of Jamaica have been up in arms over the decision to reduce their responsibilites at bursar-paid schools.

They said they were surprised by the Minister's announcement.

However, Education Minister Fayval Williams insists that bursars were notified about the decision to move away from teachers being paid by bursars and have educators receive their salaries directly from the Ministry prior to her making the announcement.