MFDP to begin payment of teachers’ salaries

The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning or MFDP says it will start the immediate payment of teachers that stormed the ground of the National Legislature in demands of their Ebola trust fund.

According to a press release issued Wednesday, the ministry said the decision was reached following meetings at the Ministry of Education, involving representatives of the ministry, Education, and administrators of private schools.

It said resources have been secured through the Ebola Trust Fund to underwrite the cost of one-off payments to private school teachers. The ministry says payments will begin onTuesday, August 25, 2015.

The release said all private schools are required to have accurate personnel payroll records from April 2014 and May 2014, and that of April 2015 and May 2015 on hand at their institutions as auditors from the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), will visit the school premises anytime during the payment period.

The release further indicated that the following measures will serve as the strict guiding principles under which payments will be made to individual instructor. It added that payment will be based on qualification; no teacher will be paid double irrespective of the number of schools they are teaching at; payment will be done based on the basis of equity across all schools; and payment is based on this current school year.

The release said upon meeting the requirements mentioned above, beneficiary will received the following payments: Below High School – $ 3,500 (LD), High School Graduate – $5,000 (LD), C Certificate – $5,500 (LD),B Certificate – $7,000 (LD), A Certificate/ AA Degree – $8,500 (LD), Bachelor’s Degree – $10,000 (LD),Master’s Degree – $12,500 (LD)and PhD – $13,000 (LD). All payments will be made by Ecobank directly to beneficiaries over-the-counter across the country.

The MFDP release says that the above-mentioned criteria were jointly decided by a technical working group, comprising heads of the various school systems, Ministry of Education, and the National Principals Association of Liberia.-Press Release