AT least 15,082 teachers are currently registered with the Fiji Teachers Registration Authority (FTRA), says CEO Sangeeta Singh.
While delivering her presentation on the organisation’s 2018 audited reports before the Public Accounts Committee, she said being registered, however, did not guarantee placement.
She said it was vital for teachers to become registered once they graduated and their license would then be renewed every three years.
Without a valid registration, teachers would not be allowed to teach.
“However, teacher registration does not guarantee employment,” she said.
“It’s a license that allows you to teach in Fiji, whereas when it comes to employment or their placement, it purely depends on the employer if they have a vacancy or if you meet the requirement for open merit pool and if you qualify, you’ll be given a placement.”
Ms Singh said their member teachers did not include just graduates and those employed with the Ministry of Education, but also teachers who taught at private institutions and retired teachers too.
“As of yesterday (Wednesday), 15,082 registered teachers and not all are employed by the ministry. The biggest percentage is employed by the ministry but not all.
“There are lecturers from higher education institutions who are also registered with FTRA, these are lecturers and professors who teach teacher training programs.
“We also have retired teachers and post retirement they carry out tuitions.
They prefer maintaining their teacher registration and if they fulfill all the requirements, they are allowed to maintain their registration because the Act does not have an age limit barrier.”
She said short term contracts were not offered for local teachers, and this was only applicable to expats.
Ms Singh said prior to registration or renewals, teachers were expected to pay a levy for a three-year license.
When quizzed about the levies required by retiree teachers and those who were suspended for misdemeanours, Ms Singh highlighted the procedures were different.
“For our retiree teachers, we calculate and only collect if someone is coming this year and we don’t collect in advance. Unless and until a teacher will say ‘no I want to pay post retirement, I will continue with my private school or private consultancy’, it’s entirely their choice but we will tell them to only pay the required fee.
“If they were found guilty and they are out of the system, they put in a written request that they want a refund of their fee and if the justification is already with us, we will write a letter.
“We don’t provide the refund but they will go through the Ministry of Education’s finance department and they will provide the refund, provided they put in a request that they want a refund, which rarely happens.”
