By Vernon Daley, Staff ReporterGOVERNMENT SENATOR, Noel Monteith, recommended yesterday that a special minimum pension be put in place for public servants who have served the country for at least 25 years.
Speaking in the Senate, he said this minimum pension should be $20,000 per month.
"I'm not tied to these figures. These should be working figures," he said, adding that a suitable date should be found to implement the recommendations.
Senator Monteith made the proposal against the background of what he said was the difficulty that many government pensioners were experiencing in trying to survive on the pension they were receiving.
The Senator was making his contribution to the debate on the Pensions (Teachers) Amendment Bill. The Senate approved the legislation that will allow teachers to be paid pension based on their highest salary at the time of retirement.
Pension for teachers will now be calculated at 1/540th of pensionable emoluments for each month of service. This is in line with other members of the public service. Among civil servants, only teachers had a pension calculated at 1/600th of pensionable emoluments.
Education Minister Burchell Whiteman, who piloted the Bill, said the new pension plan represents Government's attempt "to improve benefits due to teachers after they retire."
Opposition Senator, Anthony Johnson, also supported the Bill, noting that teachers should be well paid because of the invaluable service they provide to the country.
It was not clear how much more the Government would have to fork out of its coffers to pay the pensions for teachers under the new regime. However, Senator Johnson argued that "whatever it was going to cost it would be worth it."
At the same time both Senators Whiteman and Monteith argued that Jamaican teachers could not complain too much about their salary, given the movement in their pay over the last decade.
According to Senator Whiteman, in 1988 a trained teacher entering the profession would be paid the equivalent of US$3,480 per annum compared to US$8,696 paid to a teacher entering the profession in 2002.
Similarly, in 1998, the graduate trained teacher entering the classroom would be paid US$4,088 compared to the US$11,320 being paid to a graduate trained teacher in 2002. In 1998, a high school principal earned US$6,374 compared to the US$20,027 earned by a principal in 2002.
"Really, teachers cannot say that they are badly paid. They could be paid more but there are substantial improvements," Senator Whiteman said.
