MANCHESTER, Jamaica — Teachers at the Manchester High School on Tuesday morning protested at the entrance to the institution, adding their voices to the disgruntlement among educators over wage negotiations with the Government.

The placard-bearing teachers dressed in black chanted “What do we want? Liveable salaries. When do we want it? Now!”

Over at Mandeville Primary School, principal Howard Salmon told OBSERVER ONLINE that only 29 per cent of teachers turned up for work on Tuesday.

Salmon issued an advisory to parents on Tuesday morning of teachers “not available for duties because of personal business or sickness”.

“Those [students] who would have been informed during the course of the morning are online. The attendance for the face-to-face is not what it used to be,” he told OBSERVER ONLINE.

Tuesday’s protests by teachers follow Monday’s sit-ins at schools in at least five parishes.

There is uncertainty about what will happen in the education sector as teachers step up their demand for an end to their wage negotiation even as there are signals that it could lead to an all-island shutdown of schools on Wednesday.

OBSERVER ONLINE was told of planned sit-ins and sick-outs by teachers up to Wednesday when delegates of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association will vote to either accept or reject the Government’s wage offer.

READ: Teachers on edge