The Union of Professional Educators (UPE) is raising a serious alarm over a critical administrative error it has recently uncovered: the systematic exclusion of Supply Learning Support Educator (SLSE) service years when calculating promotion eligibility. This misinterpretation of the Sectoral Agreement led to the cancellation of the Post of Head of Department (Inclusion) and unfairly disqualified a cohort of fully qualified applicants.
Upon investigating this issue, the UPE identified that the Ministry had misinterpreted the agreement, incorrectly applying a 2:1 ratio to convert Supply LSE years for promotion purposes.
The UPE highlighted that several instances within the agreement itself indicate a different intended meaning. The Agreement explicitly limits the 2:1 conversion of supply years.
Furthermore, the UPE pointed out that other sections of the agreement, such as the requirement for the Head of Department (Inclusion) post which states candidates must:
“have not less than thirteen (13) scholastic years performing Learning Support Educator duties.”
Therefore it does not specify the exclusion of supply years. Therefore, this experience should be counted in full towards the promotional criteria and considered as 1:1.
In essence, the UPE has identified a significant error in the Ministry’s interpretation of the text, a correction that benefits all LSEs. As of writing, the Ministry of Education is recalculating all salaries to adjust the pay scales and provide the correct back pay to all affected LSEs. Recalculation is also happening in Church and Private Schools.
