Struggling teachers using TFF

National

By DOROTHY MARK
THREE elementary teachers in a remote school in Madang are paying themselves using TFF money for the school since they have not been put on the government payroll.
Teacher Naomi Kenny said she and two other teachers of Kuyombun Elementary School in the Transgogol area used to get K100 each at the end of each term since they began teaching in 2015.
Kenny said they were part of 320 people who were trained as elementary teachers in 2014 and were sent to various elementary schools to teach.
“Since then we have not been on payroll and it was now nearing the end of 2017,” she said.
Kenny said those who could go into town to follow up were given excuses after excuses by the elementary coordination office in Madang.
“We had no choice so we have been using TFF money to pay for our allowances while we buy school materials for our students,” she said.
The elementary school gets K900 every quarter annually since 2015 and Kenny and the two other teachers used to get K300 for their allowances while they used K600 to purchase the school’s learning materials.
Madang provincial education director Moses Sariki could not comment but referred this  to another officer in-charge of the situation.
That officer could not be contacted but a reliable source within the education office said the matter was long overdue and responsible officers were trying their best to have those teachers put on payroll.
The source said it was not right for teachers to be using TTF money as their allowances but because they had families to look after,  they did what they did.