The issue behind private schools’ educators’ low pensions

Poor social protection examples in education branch
Whenever contributions to the CNAPS, the National Social Security System, are considered by private schools as too large, conflicts with their educators are looming ahead, since nothing but their social security basic rights do hang in the balance. Then, again, how unlikely would a private school director fight for lower wages in order to escape excessive social security contributions! In the education branch, contributions to the System amount to 8% from the employer plus 1% from the educator, much lower than the 13%+1% required from business companies and their employees.

No room for disputes allowed
“There is no way we have to argue about the issue. Contributions from job providers to the National Social Security System are compulsory” declared Nantenaina Andrianarivo, National Social Security System advisor. Still, the unprecedented request for a reduction of financial contributions owed by job providers has been taken into consideration: “The current economic situation is to be blamed for this; Challenging what has long been established as legal has become the trend. We are through a problematic period of time during which many standards have been partly upset. Yet, this time of trouble did not affect the CNAPS’ led collection of contributions. ” The response could not be clearer than it is. The Social Security Regime will not lift the obligation to pay contributions. “Our contribution rates are the lowest in Africa, and probably the world’s lowest as well. The single possible way to alleviate the burden would be a reprieve to be granted to employers” added Nantenaina Andrianarivo.

Fallouts over workers
How much less problematic the issue would have been, if the debate merely opposed employers to the National Regime. But it does not. In accordance with the social security code, payments to the National Security Fund may be stemming from both employers and employees, are however actually retained by employers from their employees’ wages. Hanitra, a 43 years old, active educator in a high school over the latest 17 years, has grounds to fear the pending consequences of this dispute between private schools and the Social Security Regime. “Nobody but we are at the receiving end of this; the employers’ contributions are levied on our wages as a matter of fact; either our advantages or our pay rises are now in limbo. Unless schools decide to get more money out of pupils, we will be the ones to have to pay the largest share if not the whole of social contributions” she explained. The language professor believes the issue to be larger than the National Social Security System, for being generated by financial difficulties broadly affecting schools, educators as much as students and their parents.

The National Social Security Regime’s calculation of pensions
Educators may however still consider themselves as part of a privileged category, for their contributions are much lower than those owed by business companies. As for pensions, the CNaPS adds up S10 ( namely 20% of the latest 10 years’ average salary), 1% of S10 multiplied by the result of the number of active years minus 10, 40% of the basic hiring wage. Contributions for pensions nearly amount to 60% of the latest 10 active years, independently from respective numbers of active years. The catch is the fact that such a pension can be cashed in only every three months. A reform of the social protection code is currently expected to be passed by the parliament in order to remedy in any possible way this pension or family benefits related concern