I'm just trying to accommodate the concerns of the teacher unions - Radrodro

It is all about giving recognition to the teacher unions as they have raised their concerns and that is what I am trying to accommodate.

Those were the words of Minister for Education Aseri Radrodro during a press conference yesterday.

Radrodro says there has been much said about the appointment of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and in his capacity as the Minister of Education, there have been suggestions that he took a dislike of the appointment of Selina Kuruleca.

He says the Ministry of Education is the largest Ministry in the Fijian government with over 18,000 employed as teachers and support staff that deserves and requires an experienced, visionary, and comprehensive leader who has led people at the executive level managing people and resources.

Radrodro also clarified that he has the greatest respect for Kuruleca as a professional and as a friend known to him personally, however, he has had an agreement with the teacher unions in Fiji, the Fijian Teachers Association, and the Fijian Teachers Union that the Ministry of Education needs someone who has led at leadership level at the Education Ministry.

He says the unions have not been heard and their calls have been falling on deaf ears in the last decade and the last thing he wants to see as the Minister of Education is the two unions being at loggerheads again with the Ministry.

When asked if he has undermined section 126 of the constitution when he rejected the appointment of Kuruleca as PS for Education, Radrodro says he did not reject the appointment but all he is requesting is consultations that should be done.

When asked by fijivillage News if he did mention to the Prime Minister that he did not like Kuruleca, he says it was just a matter of miscommunication between him and the Prime Minister when they had a meeting.

When asked if he will accept if Kuruleca is appointed in the position, Radrodro says that is a question for the PSC to answer.

The Minister says his task is to ensure that history does not repeat itself.

He says it is unfortunate that the Ministry of Education was not given the same privilege given to other Ministers who were consulted closely and knew who were the applicants for the PS of their Ministries and they were able to have a say on the person who was subsequently appointed.

Radrodro says having said that, he has expressed this position to the Prime Minister and the Public Service Commission and looks forward to the identification of a leader who will hit the ground running at the Ministry of Education and knows like the back of their hand how to solve the demands of the Ministry and challenges.

He says they are confident in serving their stakeholders and subsequently, they anticipate that in the future, there will be better dialogue and ensure that they learn from this incident for the better running of the government.