TROUBLED by the misery of retired educators, some of whom have spent decades in the classroom yet go months and even years before receiving their pensions, president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) La Sonja Harrison is appealing to the education ministry to consider a long-standing proposal for the quicker processing of payments.

“We have tried to get them to agree to at least a 90-day turnaround, and we can’t get them to agree to it because once all the documentation is intact we are asking them that the person should be cleared by then — and we can’t’ get an agreement to that. These are just some of the frustrations of the system and you wonder: ‘To what end?’ ” Harrison told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.

“The teachers of this nation deserve better. We are in the struggle of a lifetime, and it goes on to the pensioners. You give of your service to this nation and the nation cannot recognise your value and your worth while in service to pay you a liveable wage. And then when it is you have given 30, 40 years, your nation cannot commit to ensuring that, having submitted all the documents required, that they will ensure that the stipend you will receive for pension you can get that within 90 days. What are we saying to nation builders?” questioned Harrison.

“It can’t be that my case is treated with based on who I know. So for those who don’t know anybody your file will not leave a certain desk? It can’t be. Systemically, you want to have procedures in place that we know we are working with a 90-day turnaround as long as the documentation is in.

“It can’t be that you cannot just call and ask for an update on the status of your file. It can’t be that you work in frustration and you retire in frustration. It just shows the values we place on educators,” added Harrison.

She told the Observer that previous JTA presidents have advocated for that measure, to no avail.

According to Harrison, there was minimal improvement because of the new Pension Act in which the decision was made to disburse a letter advising teachers of their retirement on the birthday prior to the year they would go off on pre-retirement leave.

“We give them kudos for that because it allows you, literally, to get your house in order before you go off on pre-retirement leave the following year — so you start the process of ensuring that your documentation, all things line up. But there are still persons who go through and make sure all the ducks are in a row and it still takes a long time for them to start getting their pension. And if you don’t have a backup what do you do in the meantime?

“And every time you take a trip to do the necessary follow-ups, it is costly. And we know telephones do not work in this day and age — yuh call till yuh blue,” charged Harrison.

“We continue to lobby on [the] part of the profession; we have our liaison officers who intervene. A new day must dawn, I believe, at some point; it just can’t be business as usual. We train our teachers, and that is the skill set persons are coming in search of and this nation does not value that. May God help us,” Harrison said passionately.

The observations of the JTA president came on the heels of an appeal to the Observer by a 62-year-old retired educator who spent 30 years in the classroom.

“My retirement started in March last year and to date I have not received a cent from the Government. I want to talk about the tardiness of the Ministry of Education — and I know a lot of teachers will attest to this — they don’t keep records. They sent me the package with all the documents I should fill out regarding my retirement. I got the package in September and by October my documents were in,” said the former teacher.

She said she waited some two months and felt an impulse to check in with the Heroes’ Circle head office of the education ministry on the status of her documentation.

“When I went, they could not find my documents. They didn’t have any idea where my documents were. They eventually found it. Do you know where my documents were? In Old Harbour,” she said.

According to the former teacher, on her numerous visits to the education ministry she has seen some former teachers broken and at their worst.

“I am speaking on behalf of my colleagues, because we meet sometimes in the days and talk about this so I am not the only one. I have a friend from St Ann who travels to the head office in Kingston using public transport so often, just to get her things looked after. She retired before me,” the former educator shared.

She said on one of those visits her colleague was forced to behave boisterously after being told that the officer handling her file was absent from work that day. When her protests peaked, the same individual who was said to be absent appeared from an upstairs office.

“These are the woes we go through as teachers. If it doesn’t get to one year and over, you don’t get one cent after you retire. I have a daughter and she is standing by me, but I am uncomfortable with it. If I did not put away a few cents I would not be able to manage,” she shared.

“I met one of my colleagues on the mall. She showed me a bag with six items and she said, ‘This is my grocery.’ This is how we suffer as teachers who have dedicated much to this country,” she lamented further.

To add insult to injury, she said on a visit to the ministry to get contribution records required by the National Housing Trust she was told that they couldn’t find three years of her records and questioned whether she was employed to them during the entire period.

“This is what we go through as teachers. And if you don’t stand strong those years are robbed from you. You need to come down to that office once day and hear the teachers when they express themselves — it is terrible what is happening to us,” she said.

“We go through hell! It’s not nice what is happening to the retired teachers. You have teachers who are retired and want to pay off their loans and they can’t; they are in arrears with their loan places. No man! They must treat us better than that. Public schools don’t have little numbers [student population], they have big numbers; all those things you have to endure and at the end of it all they don’t treat us well,” she added.

“The Ministry of Education needs some investigation. I don’t think Minister Fayval Williams can manage,” declared the retired teacher.