Teacher appointments for the 2023 school year may be delayed because the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) is being locked out of its office, says chairman Samson Wangihomie.
The TSC and the Department of Education are housed at Fincorp Haus in Waigani, Port Moresby. The landlord locked the building for the non-payment of rent.
We are all over the place at the moment.
There are challenges at this point — our divisions are scattered in different locations and not under the same roof.
Wangihomie
Wangihomie said the division under TSC responsible for national appointments coordination was now located at the Port Moresby National High School.
The other divisions are located at the Papua New Guinea Education Institute.
We hope an agreement would be reached soon by Grand Columbia and the Finance and Treasury departments so we can move back into the building to coordinate all matters regarding teachers.
Wangihomie
He said with the school year winding down in just a few weeks, there were certain group of teachers whose leave fare entitlements were managed by the Department of Education.
While the responsibility on the disbursements of the end of year leave entitlements for teachers out in the provinces have been decentralized down to their respective education boards to manage, there are some teachers whose payments are still managed by the Education Department, whose employees are currently locked out too.
Samson Wangihomie
Wangihomie said these included teachers in the National Capital District, National High Schools, National Schools of Excellence, Flexible Open Distance Education and teachers who taught students with disability.