Teachers need discipline

By GLORIA BAUAI
THE Teaching Service Commission (TSC) will take a more disciplined approach to its members in order to improve teaching standards and the quality of education in Papua New Guinea, an official says.
Commissioner operations Maini Ugaia said the commission would start off by establishing offices in all 22 provinces from next year.
“While working in the commission, I have noted many teachers are not industrious and honest in their profession,” he said.
He said there was chronic absenteeism, unprofessional conducts, absconding, engaging in other activities without seeking proper approval for leave of absence which equated to a huge waste of money in terms of salary and time.
“We have a lot of discipline problems because the provincial education boards are not effective in their discipline process,” Ugaia said.
“When the commission’s provincial offices are established, we (TSC) will take full ownership of all teachers’ challenges and improve on services delivery.
“In the process, if teachers’ behaviours are brought to question, the commission will not hesitate to take immediate disciplinary action.”
Ugaia said the commission would be implementing few measures, one of which was the proper screening of graduates.
He also said the commission would closely monitor the attendance of teachers through monthly returns.
“We will tighten up all entry levels both at the college, teacher registration, TSC admission and of course the payroll,” he said.
He said commission employed over 65,000 teachers across the nation and managing them was a huge task.
“We will need all other agencies to work together, in order to rectify and provide genuine teachers who teach quality education.