Education Ministry assures full pay for school cleaners after 40pct cut reported

 

The Education Ministry has assured it will pay in full the contractors providing cleaning services in its schools, following reports that some cleaners had 40 percent of their wages docked due to the movement control order (MCO).

“For cleaning services, the payment to the contractors will be made fully as stipulated in the contracts. Therefore, the issue of contractors needing to dock the wages of school cleaners does not arise,” the Education Ministry said in a statement today.

This comes after many school cleaners reportedly complained the contractors had cut their wages with the excuse that the district education office had to cut its allocation as only 60 percent of the workforce are allowed to operate.

School cleaners are typically paid between RM1,100 and RM1,200 a month.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry also said the contractors in charge of supplying cooked food to the institutions under the ministry will have their contracts extended based on how long their services were affected by the MCO.

“The ministry also understands the difficulties faced by canteen operators and premise tenants (bookshops, cooperatives, laundry, vending machines) that were affected by the ministry’s school closures.

“For this matter, the ministry has decided to give rental exemptions for the canteen and premises for six months starting July 2021 to December 2021,” it said.

The ministry will also extend the rental contracts of those operators automatically for one year at the end of their original contract.

“The ministry is confident that this initiative will lighten the financial burden for these service providers in the institutions under the Education Ministry as well as the workers involved who are affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” it said. - Mkini