The revised proposals for agreement on the Pay and Conditions of Teachers under Clause 2 (iii) of Annex 1 of the Programme for Competitiveness and Work include a proposal for the purchase for superannuation purposes of incremental service given by teachers when they were eligible to join the secondary teachers' superannuation scheme but did not do so. The proposal provides for the purchase of such service at the normal contribution rate of 6.5 per cent - 5 per cent for teachers who are not members of the spouses' scheme.
The proposal is confined to actual incremental service given in schools and would not apply to the purchase for superannuation purposes of any other service.
However, my Department operates a scheme for the purchase of notional service. This scheme enables teachers to voluntarily purchase additional years for the calculation of superannuation benefits. It is open to any primary or second-level teacher who is a member of the relevant superannuation scheme to apply for the purchase of notional service — which would include time spent teaching in Africa — at the appropriate rates.
My Department is not aware of any assurances being given in relation to the purchase of pensionable service at favourable rates for time spent teaching in Africa.
