Advisor: Do not blame teachers

 By ROSELYN ELLISON

TEACHERS must be paid if they are expected to work, an education advisor says.

Maprik district education advisor, Rex Alimaka said a major cause of teacher absenteeism was the non-payment of salaries for teachers employed but not included on the government payroll.

He is calling on provincial education advisor, Joseph Auli and the appointment committee to ensure teachers in primary and elementary schools in Maprik must be permanently employed. 

He said when teachers faced problems with pay, they left classes to sort it out.

As a result, students do not score well academically and perform poorly at the national examinations.

Alimaka said teachers, like everyone else, would be happy to be at work if they were on the payroll.

He urged education authorities to create more teaching positions in primary and elementary schools depending on student enrolment each year.

“The education department should focus on elementary schools because they provide the foundation for education at all levels,” he said.

Alimaka said some teachers in Maprik were forced to leave classes because they were not paid.

He said he did not blame them because they were not being rewarded for their work.