Teachers in the public sector had their salaries reclassified to 80 per cent of colleagues in the private sector. They are due to receive their first tranche of payments this week.

The counsellors, who are classified as travelling officers, contend that they have lost a special allowance they received prior to the reclassification. Some even threatening to discontinue home visits.

Jennifer Whylie, president of the Jamaica Association of Guidance Counsellors in Education (JACE), said she was awaiting clarification from the Ministry of Education and the JTA before making a detailed statement.

Disgruntled

Whylie, however, confirmed that some counsellors are disgruntled and want to leave the JTA, which represents more than 22,000 of the island's educators.

The president said JACE was not planning to split with the JTA "at this point".

Special allowance

JTA President Doran Dixon said the union understood the concerns of the guidance counsellors, noting that there was a problem with the special teachers' allowance.

Guidance counsellors are classified as teachers. In the reclassification exercise, allowances were treated as a single item, which they said put them at a disadvantage.