Partial, but still favourable! The protest on Monday 31st January in front of the PSEA premises in Beau Bassin ended with favourable decisions on the various grievances. PSEA Director, Maheswarnath Luchoomun received the 25 educators and staffs concerned as well as members of the Union of Private Secondary Education Employees (UPSEE).
Unpaid dues and earnings!
The 25 concerned staffs were protesting against the non-payment of their earnings. This concerns the payment of their Online Teaching allowances, Section Leaders allowances, salaries that have not been paid for several months, but above all, a problem that concerns many educators, the transport allowances that are calculated over 14 days in a month to ensure that the package is paid even during the days and months when they are not travelling during the Covid periods and the holidays. There was another group who complained that the Travelling Grant on their vehicles was reduced from Rs 7000 to Rs 3000, without any plausible explanation. “In the PRB report, it is mentioned that the beneficiary is eligible, even if his travel is one official day,” says Arvind Bhojun, the secretary of the UPSEE. He also reveals that “these types and natures of problems exist only since the PSEA took control of the finances and grants towards private, pre-vocational and denominational secondary schools”.
Partial satisfaction for UPSEE
The PSEA has not taken all the grievances into consideration. The education authority has asked for two months, that is, until the end of March, to reimburse the educators and other staffs The UPSEE remains wary, “Mahesswarnath Luchoomun and his financial officer, Mr. Sunassee have been quite unpleasant towards some educators and some important files. There are many grievances that have not yet been heard and others that have not yet been taken into consideration. We will follow the exchanges and refunds very closely, as we have been faced with many surprises in the past. We only seek justice for our educators,” says Arvind Bhojun. The case of the qualifications of the educators not recognised by PSEA but recognised by PSC as well as the unjustified dismissal of a hundred educators in Mauritius and Rodrigues combined, have been referred to the Equal Opportunities Commission Tribunal. In response to our questions about the fate of the dismissed educators and their unrecognised qualifications, he clearly said that “the PSEA has the right not to accept or recognise qualifications even if they are approved by the PSC and the Ministry of Education,” says Arvind Bhojun.
