'Pay teachers well, they won’t resign'
Teacher shortage is most severe in secondary schools, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Tuesday 30 September 2025 | 03:00
Suva Primary School teacher Atelaite Tukana, with her students on February 25, 2025. Photo: Ronald Kumar
Opposition Member of Parliament Hem Chand yesterday blamed low salaries for the nationwide teacher shortage, urging the government to increase pay rather than rely on temporary fixes.
“I have met some teachers who have resigned recently and the reason given by them is that salary is not enough to match the high cost of living,” Mr Chand told Parliament.
“Pay them well and they will not resign.”
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Mr Chand was responding to Minister for Education Aseri Radrodro’s statement on policy reforms to address teacher shortages affecting schools nationwide.
He warned that the shortage was already affecting student performance, citing complaints from secondary school students earlier this year.
“Some secondary school students raised concerns that they did not do well in external exams last year, in particular in mathematics, because they were without mathematics teachers for most of the year last year,” Mr Chand said.
He criticised the recent 3 per cent salary increase for teachers as insufficient and raised concerns about delayed location allowances for teachers in remote and maritime areas.
“If teachers are not given what they rightfully deserve, it contributes and leads to frustration and resignation,” he said.
Mr Chand referenced Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad’s recent announcement of more than $4 billion in revenue collection, adding, “Here we have our teachers who are underpaid.”
The teacher shortage is most severe in secondary schools, particularly in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and PEMAC subjects covering physical education, music, art and craft.
Minister Radrodro told Parliament the Ministry is recruiting final-year students from teacher training institutions and considering temporary appointments of retired teachers to address the shortage.
The government has increased the retirement age from 60 to 62 for STEM teachers and those in special and inclusive education.
Mr Chand stressed the need for better retention strategies focused on salary improvements.
“One of the retention incentives should be salary upgrade for all the teachers,” he said.
