The Permanent Secretary for Education Iowane Tiko has hit back at the Fijian Teachers Association for misleading teachers on contracts and pay talks.

Mr Tiko yesterday reiterated that Government would negotiate all pay rises for civil servants.

The FTA called on Government to remove the short-term contracts for teachers at the 83rd Annual Delegates Conference at Yat Sen School hall in Suva yesterday.

Mr Tiko said FTA was being ‘shallow’ and was misleading the teachers on the new contract initiative.

“FTA has very little current teachers in the executive positions. We don’t know how well they support teachers’ professional development,” Mr Tiko said.

“Even now Government is going to negotiate pay rises for civil servants.

The honourable Prime Minister has assured us that the union will no longer be involved in negotiating pay rise.”

He said Government would negotiate pay rise for civil servants and the ministry had been sitting with the union and discussing issues that needed to be addressed and discussed.

“They think the contract will come to an end or a stop when it expires. That is not the case, we have been informing them that the five-year contract is reviewed every year on performance but we don’t cut them off their employment.

“We are paying the officers according to the work they do,” he added.

The FTA president Netani Druavesi in his opening address pleaded with Prime Minister and acting Minister for Education Voreqe Bainimarama to remove short terms contracts because  he said it had put teachers and civil servants in an insecure financial situation.

Mr Druavesi said this could affect their performance and consequently the fate of sustaining quality education in Fiji.

He said the 2017 – 2018  National Budget has been very generous in its ambitions towards education.

Fijian Teachers Association 83rd annual delegates conference chief guest Corena Hzythorpe Federal president Australian Education Union and Ro Teimumu Kepa at the Yat Sen hall on August 15, 2017.
Photo: Ronald Kumar

However, FTA believes the enforcement of conditional contracts which favours renewals when expired is creating insecurities among the teachers and also destabilises teachers’ careers and financial savings.

Mr Druavesi said most teachers who wish to take long term loans for properties would now be unable to do so and policies would negatively weaken teacher’s security and welfare for sustainable and quality education Mr Druavesi added that despite the few setbacks they have had, they continued to thank Government for the many new initiatives.

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

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