114 teachers affected by the recent salary stoppage are expected to receive their outstanding pay this afternoon, while another 20 will be paid once they submit their signed employment contracts by tomorrow.
Minister for Education Aseri Radrodro says some affected teachers have already submitted their employment contracts, allowing their salaries to be processed, while others are yet to do so.
However, the Ministry is yet to determine the total number of teachers in Fiji yet to be paid by the Ministry of Education.
He says the Ministry is continuing its verification process, while officers are contacting teachers who have yet to provide documents requested by the Ministry's Human Resources Department.
Radrodro says the outstanding documents, including signed employment contracts, need to be submitted by tomorrow to allow the Ministry to complete the verification process and facilitate salary payments.
Radrodro says the Ministry's Human Resources and Finance teams are working to ensure the outstanding documents are received as soon as possible.
He says according to the Ministry's analysis, those affected include 30 school heads, three assistant head teachers, 47 primary school teachers, one assistant principal, 34 secondary school teachers, five technical teachers and nine non-teaching administrative officers.
As we start the third term of school, serious concerns have been raised on why some teachers have not been paid for weeks although they are teaching in the classroom.
Questions are also being raised on what is being done to fix this human resource and finance issue as the budget is already provided to pay the teachers by the Ministry of Finance.
When questioned about salary upgrades for graduate teachers, Radrodro says this remains a work in progress.
He says the Ministry needs to establish the proper process for the payment of the additional salary upgrades for all eligible teachers.
This has come up after some teachers contacted us, saying that they had upgraded their qualifications from diploma to degree level however their salaries are yet to be upgraded by the ministry.
