The delays in making refunds to private schools for the salaries of learning support assistants were “compounded” by the fact that some invoices were submitted very late, the Education Ministry said yesterday.

The process was now moving forward and payments were being issued to honour its commitments, the ministry said.

Its statement was issued after this newspaper revealed that nine independent schools were owed some €600,000 by the government for LSA salaries.

The Independent Schools Association had said the affected schools were temporarily relocating money budgeted for other projects to pay the wages.

The ministry had said it was making verifications before processing the payments.

Yesterday, it said a number of schools had issued very late invoices, leading to “a derailment in the financial process”.

The PN accused Education Minister Evarist Bartolo of trying to shift the blame on to someone else each time he was at the heart of a controversy.

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