A total of 478 teachers in Fiji have Masters Qualification, the Minister for Education Premila Kumar revealed in Parliament yesterday.

For the education sector to remain relevant, Ms Kumar said it was critical that teachers upgraded their qualifications and continuously engaged in professional development.

She stated that the Ministry of Education has 12,872 teaching staff.

Of this number, 1,107 teachers have Post Graduate qualifications and 5,105 teachers have Bachelor’s Degrees.

She said teachers continued to study part time to upgrade their qualifications and in the current financial year, 626 teachers have upgraded their qualification and would receive upgraded salaries based on the teacher remuneration setting policy.

A total of 109 teachers have upgraded their qualifications from Certificate level to Diploma, 63 teachers have upgraded from certificate to degree, 434 teachers from diploma to degree and 20 teachers have bachelor degrees without teacher training qualifications.

Salaries of 209 teachers have been upgraded so far and with a further $1.7 million allocation in the revised 2021/2022 budget, the ministry aims to upgrade the salaries of an additional 347 teachers.

Ms Kumar said it was pleasing to note that teachers in rural and maritime areas have also upgraded their qualifications with salary increments amounting to as much as $8,000.

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