The Ministry of Education has implemented strategies to address the high turnover of teachers over the past six months of this year.

From January to June, 441 teachers have resigned.

Minister for Education Aseri Radrodro ensured in Parliament yesterday that the teaching and learning environment for students would never be compromised.

“The number of teachers who resigned from January to June 2023; 80 per cent of them migrated for greener pastures, while 20 per cent pursued other job opportunities in the Pacific region and Fiji,” Mr Radrodro said.

“We have employed a total of 569 new graduates as of August 2023.

The Ministry of Education has also re-engaged retirees from the age of 55, following the Ministry of Civil Service guidelines.

“Re-engagement was carried out through the expression of interest process, and for 2023, there were 38 secondary school teachers who had retired in 2022, and 24 were re-engaged due to a shortage of teachers in specific areas such as mathematics, physics, computer science, and office technology.”

Another strategy used by the ministry is the re-engagement of teachers who were terminated due to the No Jab No Job policy.

“A total of 190 teachers were terminated, and 119 expressed interest and have been re-engaged. Out of these, 22 ECE teachers were terminated, with only five being re-engaged. Additionally, 105 primary school teachers were terminated, and 63 expressed interests in re-engagement, while 63 secondary school teachers were terminated, and 51 were re-engaged in the relaxation of the No Jab No Job policy,” he said.

“The criterion for recruitment is based on merit, and I ensured that no nepotism was entertained in this recruitment process.”

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