Following concerns by many teachers on the delay in payment of their salary and FNFP contributions, Minister for Education, Aseri Radrodro says they are actively working to resolve all pending salary payment issues.
fijivillage News highlighted the plight of the teachers earlier this week, who say they have not received their pay and the Ministry did not pay their FNPF contribution since the term began 8 weeks ago.
While responding to these concerns, Radrodro says the issues highlighted in the media are not new but have been inherited from past Education Ministry administrations.
He says the Ministry has put into place monitoring procedures and guidelines to streamline processing and ensure that all payments, whether salary or FNPF will be delivered in a timely manner.
He says the release of salary for any new graduate involves multiple stages including teacher induction, verification of qualifications, completion of necessary documentation, and integration into the payroll system.
Radrodro says these processes, while essential for accuracy and compliance, has in some cases lead to delays.
He says the delayed FNPF payment for January and February has occurred because of the transition to the new payroll system.
Radrodro further says the Ministry has rectified these challenges and are working towards clearing the FNPF payments by this week and assures that there should not be any more issues in the future.
The Minister further says pay slips have been accessible on the Ministry of Education's FEMIS Database from 2012 until the second pay of 2025 when the new payroll system was launched by Ministry of Finance.
He says the new pay roll system is not compatible with majority of the current Government Application Servers including the Ministry of Education's FEMIS System, which is hosted and maintained by the Government ITC Services in their Data Center.
Radrodro assures there are ongoing discussions with the Ministry of Finance, Government ITC Services and the Ministry of Education on deploying alternative solutions that will not only address this issue but at the same time ensure the back-end security of Government ITC Infrastructures and Systems particularly when dealing with the payroll data server for all Civil Servants.
Regarding the payment of qualification upgrade, Radrodro says the Ministry is not ignoring the efforts of teachers, who have upgraded their qualifications.
He says in December 2024, the Ministry of Education facilitated qualification upgrade payment for 295 eligible officers.
The Minister says additionally, the Ministry’s HR Department is currently compiling listings of teachers who have submitted their relevant documents and requests for qualification upgrade, and this will be included in the budget submission for the 2025-2026 financial year.
The Education Minister assures, that he remains committed to ensuring educators are compensated fairly and on time, and that their benefits are secure.
He adds the Ministry of Education will continue to work diligently to ensure that all issues have been resolved.
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