Teachers will miss out on the 3 per cent increment to be paid to public servants this month because of education reforms and other issues faced this year, an official says.
But Teaching Service Commission (TSC) chairman Samson Wangihomie told The National that they were working with the Department of Personal Management (DPM) to sort out the matter.
DPM Secretary Taies Sansan had said public servants should be paid the increment on Nov 16 (Pay period 23).
She said the pay increment for the 129,058 public servants followed the three-year (2022 to 2024) salary fixation agreement signed last month with the Public Employees Association.
Wangihomie said the teachers, since 2019, had not been receiving any increment because of the education reforms and other issues.
But they hope to discuss the matter with the PNG Teachers Association (PNGTA) before the end of the school year.
My door is open. They (PNGTA) can bring their log of claims and address them accordingly.
Wangihomie
PNGTA president Aita Sanangkepe blamed the lack of coordination with the TSC and the Education Department to address this issue.
If the secretary and chairman had allowed us on the national education board, we would have already solved the log of claims and other issues affecting teachers around the country.
Sanangkepe
He said it was unfair to more than 68,000 teachers to miss out on the 3 per cent pay rise.