25 WHP teachers sacked

GAMBLING on horse races and pokies machines has cost 25 teachers their jobs in Hagen Central district, Western Highlands province.
Others in this group were also sacked for getting drunk and chewing betelnuts during normal school hours, the district education adviser Steven Ronomu said.
Mr Ronomu said this last Thursday at Togoba Secondary during the opening of a new double-classroom funded by Western Highlands provincial government.
He said parents and guardians of the students attending 20 primary and community schools in the district worked hard to earn school fees and expect the teachers to provide the best education for their children.
“If the teachers cannot stay in the classrooms and teach, then there is no point in keeping them.
“It is the duty of the individual teacher to feel responsible and provide quality education for children whose parents and guardians sweat their guts out to find the money to put their children in schools.”
Mr Ronomu said the Government had also poured money into schools to improve the quality of education and teachers, who were the implementers, must carry out Government’s plans and policy.
He said as an education adviser, he made it his duty to check every pokies places and bookmakers in the city.
Mr Ronomu said when he sighted some of his teachers in these gambling places during the normal schooling hours, he sacked them.
He also said when he saw some teachers getting drunk, roaming around in the city chewing betelnuts during official working hours, they too were sacked.
Mr Ronomu said teachers in Hagen district must be loyal to their duties and carry out their work professionally.
He warned that there was no time to play around, reiterating that the students must get quality education.
Mr Ronomu also appealed to the parents and guardians to report teachers who misbehaved or were not doing their work properly.
“We do not want teachers who cannot stay in a classroom and teach.
Parents must observe every movement of the teachers and report their whereabouts to me,” he warned.Those not in class will face the consequences,” Mr Ronomu said.