Polytech staff on strike

 By GABRIEL LAHOC

CLASSES at the National Polytechnical Institute in Lae were disrupted following a stand-off between the teaching staff and administration.

Staff members boycotted classes and called for the acting secretary for education to intervene. 

They claimed that there had been mismanagement of the institute’s resources, misappropriation of its funds and maladministration.

They raised their grievances with the department in 

March but did not get any response. 

They later wrote to the first assistant secretary for technical, vocational education and training in Port Moresby and gave him a week to respond.

In that letter, around 50 staff members warned that they would expose administration flaws in the media and stage a protest.

Acting director of the institute Graham Bidang, in a notice circulated in campus, said he had an audience with student leaders who had raised concerns about their lecturers. 

He directed that: 

l Names of teaching staff who do not come to classes  be included in a report to him;

l The actions of striking teaching staff is not proper which have unnecessarily affected students;

l Staff refrain from further boycott of classes and return to classes; and 

l Submit their grievances through proper channels.

However, a member of the striking staff said they would continue their boycott until the government intervened.