Morobe teachers may get salary increase

By JACINTA COHLEE
MOROBE completed the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) positions validation workshop on Friday and there will most likely be an increase in the provincial education budget for teachers’ salaries.
The budget increase was noticed after the two-week validation for the TSC positions of which Morobe has 8,000-plus teaching positions, more than 2,000 were vacant. After validating positions, 936 vacant positions in the province were established.
Out of the 936 vacant positions, 398 positions were used to reclassify other existing schools that needed additional positions and also new established schools.
From these 398 positions validated and reclassified to higher base positions, there will most likely be an increase in budget, which will be added to the province for teachers’ salaries, excluding other allowances tied to those positions.
The validation was purposely to cleanse positions and allowances for all schools in different categories in order to bring millions (kina) back into the education sector.
TSC senior appointment officer Lucy Philip, saidf every teaching position was funded, which meant the vacant positions were funded as well, and if they were still vacant, then the money tied to those positions was unused.
Philip said that it was quite a big task to validate all those positions, considering just how big Morobe was, but for the sake of quality education, it was the responsibility of TSC to make sure the education system was balanced.
TSC representatives along with the provincial education division thanked the Finschhafen development authority under the leadership of local MP Rainbo Paita, who was also the Finance Minister, for providing K90,000 for the validation to take place to make sure Morobe’s education system was transparent for a better future.
Provincial education adviser Keith Tangui said the increase in monetary value was confidential.