Education Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy says there may be circumstances when teachers may be late some times, however, when attendance and punctuality rights are misused then it gives a wrong signal on the part of the teacher.
He says while they are ready to understand situational issues that may hinder attendance and punctuality and as such, immediately put in effective remedies, they will at no point want to compromise the education interests of students and their parents.
Reddy says although they have put in place some measures and strategies to counter this issue, there are still some aspects that they have to tap into to ensure that the issue of late arrival and absenteeism is at its lowest.
He says some of the measures already in place to counter late arrival and attendance are daily monitoring of teacher attendance and late arrival and data is supplied to Ministry Headquarters daily.
There are monthly reports from School Heads on teacher attendance and late arrival including school performance, their pay is deducted after the teacher has surpassed rightful leave and there are no valid reasons for absence or for unauthorized leave, the late arrival minutes are compounded and pay deducted accordingly, teacher assessment rating drops which may affect chances to act in higher positions, promotions, counseling from the School Head and Education Office and warning letters given to the teachers concerned.
Reddy says they have taken away a lot of previously overloaded documentation work away from teachers and giving them opportunities to concentrate on their teaching.
He says they are creating a great teaching environment for teachers in Fiji and as such they do not expect any teacher to take advantage and misuse their benefits.
The Education Minister made this comment after it was highlighted in the Education Forum 2017 that 5.75 percent of secondary teachers were absent from school in the first two months of this year while 2.75 percent of secondary teachers reported late to school.
6.25 percent of primary teachers were absent from school in January this year while 2.25 percent primary teachers were absent in February.
3.5 percent primary teachers reported late to school in January this year while 2.25 percent primary teachers reported late to school in February.
