Dozens of Education contract workers terminated

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Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd. (FILE PHOTO)

Education Minister Jeffery Lloyd revealed Tuesday that a few dozen contract workers within the Ministry of Education have been sacked due to irresponsible behavior.

According to Lloyd, more than 200 workers have been found to be in breach of their contracts – a large portion of that number did not report to work for some 100 days, but were still being paid.

“We identified over 200 individuals who have violated their employment agreement with the Ministry of Education,” Lloyd explained.

“I indicated that those persons were either being disciplined or terminated, and I am happy to report that the disciplining process is underway and there have been some terminations.

“We expect that there will be more.”

Lloyd maintained that the education ministry gave delinquent contract workers enough notice before clamping down.

“The exercise that is underway now is one of fairness and equality, so that we, for the sake of our country, get what we deserve when we hire people to complete a job,” he lamented.

For those who remain, Lloyd said, the ministry will determine if they will receive other forms of discipline or be considered for termination as well.

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“It could entail letters of warning, suspension, or it could also require that they submit to certain behavioral corrections. We also may require that some of the persons, who we feel have great talent, may deserve another chance to be trained and kept on board. Others, may simply be let go,” he said.

While the Ministry of Education seeks to weed out delinquent contract workers, Lloyd confirmed that it is also interested in filling those spots with persons who are interested in actually providing quality work.

“It is the intent of our ministry to engage as many persons who are qualified and capable, but there are obligations that they have to meet. They must come to work and do their jobs,” he said.

The sweeping crackdown at the education ministry, he said, is part of the government’s effort to weed out corruption which, according to the prime minister, accounts for over 30 per cent of the country’s overall revenue loss annually.

About Theo Sealy

Theo Sealy is an award-winning journalist who serves as senior broadcast reporter and weekend TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. He has achieved several career milestones, including his work as a field contributor with CNN, his coverage of four consecutive general elections, his production of several docuseries and his Bahamas Press Club Awards win for “Best Television News Story” in 2018.