There is absolutely no truth to rumours that 250 short-term employees of the Ministry of Education will be sent home within the next two months.
This is according to Education Minister Anthony Garcia who yesterday said the claims were "totally false."
In a letter sent to media houses on Thursday, the workers claimed moves were afoot by the ministry to send them home as the ministry was refusing to renew contracts which are due to expire at the end of September.
They wrote, "To date, we have not been informed what would happen after this. Repeated calls to HR has been met with HR saying they are not sure what the current situation is and have not been given any instructions."
Adding that recent changes in the ministry's permanent secretaries had also resulted in uncertainty as they were awaiting instructions from the Ministry of Public Administration and Communications as to the organisational structure to be permanently implemented, the employees said while this was being done they remained in limbo as their job security was no longer guaranteed.
Garcia explained that the ministry had contract workers in various categories scattered throughout different departments.
He said these short term employees were hired based on the immediate needs of the ministry at the time and that when these needs were fulfilled, "Those contracts will come to an end."
Adding that the people hired in these positions are fully aware of the circumstances surrounding short-term contracts, Garcia said there were also medium-term contracts offered when the ministry required workers for a particular task and they did not have the relevant posts available.
He said these contracts often spanned a period of between one and three years.
Garcia said it was the policy of this Government to try and eliminate contract positions where possible and have people become a permanent part of the public service, but that if and when contracts expired at the ministry the workers would be presented with monthly contracts until a more permanent decision is taken regarding their position.