Teachers told not to skip classes

National

By PHOEBE GWANGILO
PNG Teaching Service Commission chairman Baran Sori is urging teachers to be at their schools until the academic year ends next month.
“At this time of the school year when national examinations are completed, some teachers have the habit of commencing holidays well before school closes on Dec 9,” he said.
Sori urged Grade 8, 10 and 12 teachers to remain in school as they still had duties to perform.
“The number of teachers fronting at the TSC counter for queries has increased after the examinations,” Sori said.
He warned that absconding from work at such a time was illegal unless the teachers had been authorised by the provincial education advisers.
“TSC therefore calls for all provincial education authorities, church education authorities, school boards parents and citizens to take stock of teachers who have left school early for holidays and submit their names to the provincial education authorities or directly to the TSC to immediately suspend them from the payroll.”
Sori said teachers were paid by the state on the resumption day until the last day of the academic year and should adhere to the Teaching Service Act.
“For teachers who have already left schools and are in Port Moresby coming to Fincorp Haus almost every working day, the commission will check names against the Alesco payroll system and effect immediate pay suspension if they have been found to be on payroll and had left school.
“Their pay will not be uplifted until they resume duties in January 2017.”
Sori told The National that teachers who had genuine reasons to see the commission staff, especially for retirement and resignation cases, were excepted.
“But those who have no good reasons and taking early holidays must remain at the school where they were posted,” he said.
“This had been a norm and teachers who were leaving schools early must be reported for certain measures such as stoping their pay so that they do not skip classes to ramain at schools.”
The TSC counter service will attend to other queries from Dec 12 to Dec 22 and from Jan 2 to 13.