00:00We have the Chief Secretary, the Secretary of Education as well, both former contract teachers.
00:09One of them played a role in current division to court.
00:12The Chief Secretary is surprisingly silent.
00:15I'm hardly hearing him talking about anything regarding education.
00:18But we are still here talking about audit.
00:21So this is my demand.
00:22Elections is coming up.
00:23I want to be able to support the Chief Secretary and the Secretary on the campaign about what they did for contract teachers.
00:29Not what they planned to do, why this didn't work, who to blame.
00:34Because they said that Tutor did not fight for this hard enough.
00:37As the Tobago officer, I'm out here fighting for it consistently.
00:41And there is nothing tangible coming from the division more than somebody doing an audit.
00:46Tutor Tobago Officer Braden Roberts as he spoke with TV6 News in Scarborough.
00:52He said contracted teachers' years of service are being taken for granted.
00:57The education system does not benefit from these teachers as they are used as laborers.
01:02They are not able to become head of department, a vice principal, a dean, a principal.
01:07So all their years' service is just to be used as a laborer on the bottom of the food chain.
01:13There is no seniority for these contract teachers.
01:16Some of them have 20 years' experience that we are not able to benefit from.
01:21The individual teacher as well with these three-year contracts are not able to get any significant financial aid with their letter of tenure as it's short term.
01:32So we want to fix the education system.
01:35So it's not just the contract teacher alone we are fighting for.
01:37The education system needs to benefit from more experienced persons who can serve in management positions.
01:43Mr. Roberts said the issue must be dealt with frontally.
01:47And the audit is understandable if you are collecting data.
01:50However, we have never moved past collecting data.
01:53If it's one thing we have got in Trinidad and Tobago is collecting data.
01:56We have audits of 2014.
01:59There was a task force that did some work in 2023.
02:04However, we are 2025 and still talking about audits that I think ministry is playing a role in.
02:10In addition, the issue of leave classification to be authorized in Trinidad must change.
02:16At present, if a teacher utilizes all 14 days' sick leave, documents have to be sent to Trinidad to be classified and later returned to Tobago.
02:27When contacted on the matter, former contract teacher and education secretary Zorisha Hackett said,
02:33Following a meeting with Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bissasa, the newly elected central government has expressed its commitment to resolving this matter promptly once all due diligence is completed by the Division of Education.
02:48She said in the interim, the division has taken proactive steps to promote equity among educators.
02:55Salaries for contracted teachers have been adjusted in line with those of their permanently appointed counterparts.
03:03Additionally, the audit of arrares has been completed and teachers are expected to receive retroactive payments in short order.
03:13Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
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