EDUCATION Minister Priya Manickchand has said that the wages of cleaners within the public school system across the country is currently under consideration, with a view to regularising what may not be regular.

She made this statement when asked by this publication for a response to a letter in the Stabroek News on Thursday by Sherlina Nageer, who said that women cleaners are grossly underpaid.
“As it is, months after the passage of the minimum wage order, these poor women continue to be grossly underpaid  working 8+ hours a day but earning less than $18,000(US$90)/month. Trying to live and provide for a family on $18,000 a month is impossible. That’s $600 a day,” the letter stated in part.
According to her, this is presently under consideration, but it is not a matter that can be dealt with by the Ministry of Education alone.
The new minimum wage order of the Ministry of Labour became effective July 1, 2013, and under this new order, no worker should be paid less than $202 per hour, $1,616 daily, $8,080 per week, or $35,000 per month.