admin
26-09-2011, 12:45
The Ministry of Education of the Canarian Government faces the repayment of 470,000 euros to Social Security as payment of fees and fines for alleged illegal recruitment as professionals employed assistants to 133 English-language schools in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, from 2008 until 2010. According to this resolution, the Social Security should be refunded to assistants affected by it and the fees paid.
The new incoming team has met fully with this demand, Deputy Minister of Education itself, Manuela Armas, has described the situation as a "hot potato" which they found upon arrival to the Executive. The legal services of the Department have appealed the decision of the Social Security, arguing that self-employed status is perfectly applicable to the role of assistants.
The English Conversation Assistants Project: an experience of linguistic and cultural immersion, was promoted by the then Ministry of Education, Universities, Culture and Sports of the Canary Islands since the 2001-2002 school year, in support of other European initiatives. According to the Ministry itself, "since then this program has helped to improve cultural and linguistic competence of students in those schools that have that resource and also the teachers." This project was awarded in 2006 with the European label for educational innovation in learning foreign languages.
In the documents of the then Ministry of Education, the assistant was deemed as "a freelancer providing services in schools as teacher support in the area of English", as such, they were considered for administrative purposes.
However, according to this ruling, the Ministry of Education has to hire assistants as an employee , but the bulk of its revenue has been used for development of this role in schools across the province. However, they were their own assistants who who were paying their own Social Security contributions and hired as freelancers.
Manuela Armas, who makes it clear that the assistants have no problem with this and considered the self-employed status as adequate, says that "we have to regulate it somehow, because it is an important program in schools. But at the moment is frozen until we find a way that will not cause harm to the administration." Note that the Auxiliary Program English Conversation: an experience of linguistic and cultural immersion coexists in the Canary Islands with the Foreign Conversation Assistants Program in Spain from the Ministry of Education.
In this case the assistants assigned to the program of the Ministry are considered for legal purposes as interns. The staff do not exceed 12 hours teaching a week to receive a monthly allowance of 700 euros in aid, and exempt therefore from tax obligations. While the assistants of the Canary Islands were operating in Primary Education, Ministry assistants work in Secondary and Official Language Schools.
source (http://www.diariodeavisos.com/2011/09/26/actualidad/la-seguridad-social-reclama-470-000-euros-a-la-consejeria-de-educacion)
The new incoming team has met fully with this demand, Deputy Minister of Education itself, Manuela Armas, has described the situation as a "hot potato" which they found upon arrival to the Executive. The legal services of the Department have appealed the decision of the Social Security, arguing that self-employed status is perfectly applicable to the role of assistants.
The English Conversation Assistants Project: an experience of linguistic and cultural immersion, was promoted by the then Ministry of Education, Universities, Culture and Sports of the Canary Islands since the 2001-2002 school year, in support of other European initiatives. According to the Ministry itself, "since then this program has helped to improve cultural and linguistic competence of students in those schools that have that resource and also the teachers." This project was awarded in 2006 with the European label for educational innovation in learning foreign languages.
In the documents of the then Ministry of Education, the assistant was deemed as "a freelancer providing services in schools as teacher support in the area of English", as such, they were considered for administrative purposes.
However, according to this ruling, the Ministry of Education has to hire assistants as an employee , but the bulk of its revenue has been used for development of this role in schools across the province. However, they were their own assistants who who were paying their own Social Security contributions and hired as freelancers.
Manuela Armas, who makes it clear that the assistants have no problem with this and considered the self-employed status as adequate, says that "we have to regulate it somehow, because it is an important program in schools. But at the moment is frozen until we find a way that will not cause harm to the administration." Note that the Auxiliary Program English Conversation: an experience of linguistic and cultural immersion coexists in the Canary Islands with the Foreign Conversation Assistants Program in Spain from the Ministry of Education.
In this case the assistants assigned to the program of the Ministry are considered for legal purposes as interns. The staff do not exceed 12 hours teaching a week to receive a monthly allowance of 700 euros in aid, and exempt therefore from tax obligations. While the assistants of the Canary Islands were operating in Primary Education, Ministry assistants work in Secondary and Official Language Schools.
source (http://www.diariodeavisos.com/2011/09/26/actualidad/la-seguridad-social-reclama-470-000-euros-a-la-consejeria-de-educacion)