Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Three of 5 teacher demands met already

Three of 5 teacher demands met already

Education Minister Dr Natalio Wheatley said his ministry has already addressed three of the five concerns the BVI Teachers Union (BVITU) had outlined during the sickout they staged back in October.
Dr Wheatley said the final two concerns are the most difficult to complete. However, indicated that the ministry is in the process of addressing them.

Speaking at a media conference on Friday, Dr Wheatley said the first issue the ministry addressed was having teachers represented during the government’s salary review process for the territory’s public sector workers.

“We went ahead and we initiated that, and we made a decision to award a contract for the salary review and that is going well so far. And I am pretty sure the director of Human Resources, Michelle Donovan Stephens made a statement on that. That’s one demand that was satisfied,” the Education Minister said.

Dr Wheatley said increments have also been made to teachers as well as the stipend he had promised them for Teacher’s Day 2021.

He stated: “I know many public servants would have received increments by now. There were a few public servants where they had to do some calculations based on perhaps if they changed positions but many, many persons if not all should have gotten their increments,” Dr Wheatley said.

“We also promised a stipend to teachers and those were paid. We had a few persons who missed out on when we initially did it. We made another round of checks, and those persons would have been paid their stipend,” the Education Minister added.

He noted the concerns about relocating Elmore Stoutt High School students and staff from the makeshift Pasea Estate campus back to the main Lower Estate campus.

“Our teachers and students who have been in those conditions since the hurricanes of 2017 had quite a bit of challenge because that building was not designed to house a school. Of course, we made the decision to get those students and teachers out of that building as urgently as possible,” Dr Wheatley said.

The contract tenders for the project have been sent out and, in a few weeks, the education minister expects the government to award a contract for the construction of the three proposed buildings and for landscaping.

“The last concern out of the five, there was a request made for mould remediation and for maintenance on our school facilities. Although it is a difficult issue, we have positive news and during the past budget cycle we asked for an increase in the budget for maintenance that will allow us to do things like mould remediation and that was approved and passed in our budget,” the Education Minister stated.

Dr Wheatley said more than $2.2 million was allocated for maintenance work on the territory’s schools.

He further said work is currently being done on Jost Van Dyke Primary School (JVDPS). According to the minister, a contract was signed for the retrofitting of trailers that will provide clean and healthy classroom spaces for teachers and students.

Dr Wheatley also noted that the maintenance of the Isabella Morris School, the Enez Henley Learning Centre as well as the Willard Wheatley Primary School will be treated as a priority.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×