Minister Samuel: Three extra vacation days granted for school year 2022-2023

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports Hon. Rodolphe Samuel announced over the weekend that the Council of Ministers (COM) on March 7, 2023, has granted teachers, management, and support staff of all division of public education schools three additional days off during the school vacation 2022-2023.

The additional vacation days that have been granted are from July 31 to August 2, 2023. The other vacation days for the academic year 2022-2023 will remain unchanged.

A letter dated Friday, April 14, 2023, has been sent to the President of the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) Stuart Johnson communicating to him about the additional vacation days.

“The decision by COM is based on a recommendation that was made for compensation of our teachers, support staff, and management due to their continued commitment to education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic had a significant impact on our economy and the government’s budget as well as the level of stress amongst the teaching sector.

“We wanted to show the teaching sector our appreciation for going beyond to help our pupils during this difficult period,” Minister Rodolphe Samuel said over the weekend.