More than 900 people who invigilated this year’s CXC examinations are awaiting payment, with the Ministry of Education Transformation aiming to clear all verified claims by mid-September but warning that disputed cases could remain unresolved until November.
Several affected workers, including unemployed people who supervised the May and June CSEC and CAPE exams, say the delay has left them struggling to meet household expenses and buy school supplies ahead of the new academic year.
The Ministry of Education Transformation said payments had started, but claims must be checked and audited before money can be released.
Permanent Secretary Kim Belle said more than 900 invigilators, supervisors and examiners had submitted claims, with some individuals generating multiple claims.
“The exams that we are doing the invigilator payments for are for the May and June exams, so the claims normally start to come in during July after the exams have been completed,” Belle told Barbados TODAY. “We have over 900 invigilators, supervisors, and examiners, but one person does not mean one claim. Multiple claims will be generated by a single individual, and when we receive them, we have to process them.”
The caims had to be audited and reviewed to ensure the correct amounts were paid, she said.
“The processing does not mean that when they come in, you just make payment. They have to be audited and reviewed to ensure that we are making the correct payment for the claim that has been submitted. Once that process has been completed, we can then go ahead and process the payments for the individuals.”
Some payments had already been made, and the ministry was working to complete all verified claims by mid-September, Belle said.
“Persons should have already started to receive their payments. We are working to have all of the clean claims completed by the middle of September.”
But a number of claims contained discrepancies requiring further checks before payment could be made, the permanent secretary said. The discrepancies primarily involve differences between the hours claimed by invigilators and those recorded by examination supervisors.
“I checked with my accounts section earlier this week, and they did raise with me that there are a number of claims which are being queried because what has been reported on the forms does not line up,” Belle revealed. “We have to go back to the persons to get verification. Once that has been completed, we will be able to either make the payment as it is or make the adjustment to the calculation.”
Asked how long it could take to resolve those cases, Belle said November represented the “worst-case scenario is because it depends on being able to reach the person and get the clarity from them. Sometimes there may be a back-and-forth between what persons are claiming and what we have to verify regarding the number of hours worked”.
Belle said new invigilators could face additional processing time because they first had to be entered into the accounting system.
“Where there are persons already in our system, it’s easy. We can just go ahead and make that payment,” Belle said. “Where a person is new to us, we then have to create a log for them within the accounting system. There is a further step that we have to complete before making the payment.”
One worker said repeated attempts to get information about the outstanding payment had left them frustrated.
“We unemployed persons worked May and June for the CXC examinations, CSEC and CAPE, and we can’t get paid,” the invigilator said.
“Every time you call the Ministry of Education or the CXC council, it’s always an excuse from them.”
Poor communication had made the situation even more difficult for those relying on the seasonal income to support their families, the worker said.
“We have school clothes to buy and bills to pay. What are we to do?” the worker said.
“We have been waiting this long time, and no one says anything. Whoever pays us is receiving their salaries each month, whilst we are still here looking and checking our bank accounts in vain.”
Belle nevertheless expressed confidence that most payments would be completed much sooner: “For the most part, these payments should be completed soon. I really don’t want us to go down into November because, as it stands right now, we are ahead to get them completed by mid-September.”
(RR)
