Foreign teachers

THE Government, through the Department of Education, is bringing in foreign teachers to assist in rectifying dropping standards of English and science among grade 12 students.
This is a band aid solution when grade 12 is the last tier in the formal education process.
Consideration for the falling standard, if any, starts from elementary school all the way to the secondary school level.
To say that our PNG teachers have not done well in secondary schools is a mighty slap in the faces of some very committed teachers we have in the country.
Many of these teachers have been and will be working in very trying situations, even if they are yet to be put on the payroll.
A foreign teacher, when brought in, will have some of these benefits which our national teachers do not enjoy:

• Better and higher salaries, even if not educated adequately;
• Housing is a definite must while our teachers rent shanty homes in the settlements or villages;
• Medical insurances paid for by the State which is unheard of by our own teachers;
• Prompt leave fares will be paid on time which is a thorn for our teachers; and
• Foreign teachers will mostly be posted to schools in urban areas while the general population is out there

If foreign teachers are to be brought in because we do not have enough teachers in the country, all the better.
However, they must be on equal footing with our national teachers in regards to salaries, housing, leave fares and other benefits.
Our national teachers’ terms and conditions must never have a superior/inferior complexity.

Frank Gamezuho
Goroka