The committee began the discussions on the supplemental budget requests that the department had requested from under the sector grant funds before moving on to another portion of the budget, which included a part on the housing allowance.
The department explained how it provides for employees who are recruited from off island.
The department has been paying the houses it rented for those employees it has recruited from off-island due to limited number of government housing where it could house them.
The committee had raised a lot of questions regarding the salaries of classroom teachers during its discussions with the department.
Members of the committee felt that the department has not done enough in accommodating the need of classroom teachers.
The committee noted that the budget request indicates that classroom teachers in ungraded positions are still assigned pay levels and steps as if they were still under the Public Service System Act.
Members of the committee were expecting to see some changes under personnel since Education is one of the two departments with certain services exempted from the Public Service System Act.
