BD100 disability allowance paid to eligible staff: CSB

TDT | Manama

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The Civil Service Bureau has said that an allowance for those who teach, train or care for persons with disabilities is already in place, paying BD100 a month to educational and specialist staff and BD50 to employees in the general jobs group.

In a written response to a parliamentary proposal on a special allowance for teachers of special-needs groups, the Bureau stressed that the government is responsible for setting salaries, benefits and the rules for paying allowances.

Government bodies, it added, draw up lists of employees who meet the criteria and submit them to the Bureau.

Allowance

The allowance is then paid to everyone who qualifies in public schools and in rehabilitation centres run by the competent bodies.

According to the Bureau, the Civil Service Instructions place the onus on government entities to identify those who qualify for the allowance under the set rules, before the lists are signed off by the competent authority and sent on to the Bureau.

This is meant to ensure that the money goes only to staff who are actually carrying out teaching, training or care duties for persons with disabilities.

Reply

The Ministry of Education, in its own reply, said the allowance proposed by MPs ‘already exists on the ground’ and is paid to those who meet the conditions laid down.

The ministry said its role is limited to determining the eligible groups and forwarding the names to the Civil Service Bureau.

It explained that the BD100 allowance is paid to staff who hold a special education diploma together with a bachelor’s degree, to those with a bachelor’s degree in special education, or to those with qualifications tied to teaching or training persons with disabilities, such as physiotherapy, psychotherapy and speech therapy.

A BD50 allowance is paid to staff in the general jobs group who carry out teaching, training or care work for persons with disabilities in public schools and in organisational units of the ministry.

The allowance can also be granted to staff who are seconded or assigned to educational centres supervised by the ministry.

Scholarships The ministry added that it is working to encourage and prepare national staff through scholarships, training programmes and specialist courses.

The responses came after a proposal was submitted by MPs Mohammed Al Masrefi, Mohammed Al Rafai, Jaleela Alawi and Mohsen Al Asboul.

The MPs had first called for the allowance to be introduced, then asked for their proposal to be amended so that “the value of the allowance be increased to BD200 for the educational and specialist category instead of BD100, and to BD100 for the general jobs category instead of BD50, while stressing the need to include all teachers who are actually performing teaching, training and care duties for students with disabilities, including in inclusive education classes”.