Morobe’s education division is still waiting for funds to repatriate families and bodies of teachers who died during service in 2020 and 2021, acting education adviser Keith Tangui says.
Tangui said some teachers retired but could not be repatriated home early because of funding constraints.
We are looking at two separate groups when it comes to repatriation of teachers.
One is retired teachers and the other are the deceased.
– Tangui
Tangui explained that five teachers who were serving in Morobe had passed away this year while another 21 died in 2020 with many of them still at the funeral home waiting to be repatriated.
At the moment, the repatriation exercise is very expensive but there is always a separate budget allocation for this.
As soon as the funds are available, we will look into settling the issue.
While still faced with funding hiccups, the bodies of the teachers are being placed at the funeral home until such time when funds are available.
This does not mean that the education division is overlooking its responsibilities.
It means once the funding is available, the repatriation will be carried out for the teachers
who had served the province loyally in their profession to repatriate the teachers and their families.This would be the same for teachers who have retired and are awaiting to be repatriated.
– Keith Tangui
Tangui apologised to the immediate families of the deceased or retired for the delay.
This is very sad.
We will look into the matter and address it when the funds are available.
– Tangui