Pay Increase for Teachers
He said FTA had for years, since the past government, called that teachers who have upgraded their qualifications be remunerated correctly.
Tuesday 24 December 2024 | 15:26
Good news for teachers on Christmas eve.
Some of them will get their salaries upgraded because of improvement in qualification.
And they should be grateful to their unions for fighting hard at the negotiations table to have this upgrade reinstated, says Fijian Teachers Association (FTA) general secretary Paula Manumanunitoga.
Related stories
He said FTA had for years, since the past government, called that teachers who have upgraded their qualifications be remunerated correctly.
He said this was a policy which was introduced by the FijiFirst party government during their reign but ended it abruptly in 2019.
“It is only through the participation of both teacher unions, FTA and Fiji Teachers Union (FTU), in raising the issue with the Minister for Education, Aseri Radrodro that this has now been reinstated,” Mr Manumanunitoga said.
“So, in our last meeting in the first week of December, the minister agreed that those teachers, who had upgraded their qualifications would receive 50 per cent of their salary increment this week and the balance to be paid to them in January 2025.”
He said 395 teachers would benefit.
The unions are negotiating with the ministry to consider the plight of teachers, who only qualified with a certificate or diploma, have taught for over 20 years, but are still being paid a lower salary than degree holders with one or two years of teaching experience.
He said these teachers had a wealth of knowledge and experience, experts in their own fields after having hands on experience for so long but are still being paid a lower salary scale than a new graduate who hardly has any experience in teaching.
“The Ministry of Education made a commitment that this will be looked at in 2025. The FTA is grateful to Mr Radrodro for listening and accepting our plea.”
He said even though budgetary submissions from the ministry was never considered fully by the Minister for Finance, Mr Radrodro used his expertise in accounting to re-organise and shift funds to accommodate anomalies.
Fiji Teachers Union general secretary Muniappa Goundar said he was happy that teachers who upgraded their qualifications would get their rightful pay.
The FTU is talking to the ministry to re-employ teachers who had returned to Fiji from overseas.
Mr Radrodro is expected to announce the upgrade of teachers’ salaries soon.
Feedback: shratikan@fijisun.com.fj
