Government, church in new partnership

THE Government has partnered with the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) to commission senior education officers and pastors to serve as charging officers.
The Teaching Service Commission (TSC) conducted a workshop at the church head office in Lae last week where it trained pastors, mission education secretaries and head teachers on disciplinary procedures and processes.
Six pastors and 11 mission education secretaries were empowered to investigate allegations of misconduct and breaches of the TSC rules and church codes by teachers.
The six pastors are area supervisors while the mission education secretaries are education directors serving in the church’s 10 mission fields in the country.
During the day and a half workshop, TSC chairman Samson Wangihomie, legal officer Hilda David Aipi and principal adviser Jerome Sawin talked about the different aspects of disciplining teachers.
Wangihomie spoke about the authorisation and delegation of TSC powers to charge and suspend teachers while Aipi and Sawin explained the commission’s discipline procedures and processes.
Topics covered were disciplinary investigations, suspensions and charging among others.