The Vanuatu Teachers Union says retired teachers from Fiji are not welcome to teach in its country.
The Vanuatu education minister Bob Loughman has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Fiji minister of foreign affairs, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, allowing retired teachers from Fiji to teach in Vanuatu.
The Union's president, Wilfred Leo told our correspondent Hilaire Bule, the agreement has come as a surprise, as more than 50 teaching graduates from Vanuatu are yet to secure a posting.
WILFED LEO: The Vanuatu Teachers Union is still considering that as a slap to teachers in Vanuatu in the sense that those who come to work here are retired teachers, and we also have retired teachers here. And we asked the government to show us how [much better] can retired teachers in Fiji than our retired teachers that are here if he wants or if he intends to use retired teachers in some ways to teach here.
HILAIRE BULE: Your staff still has some conditions or claims to be sorted out by the government. Now the government is asking for the retired teachers to come and teach in Vanuatu. Do you see this as a cover-up of your claim?
WL: Well, it is another issue, anyway. In other words it is another issue. You are right. We still have some issues concerning teachers salaries and concerning probation terms and there are other matters. But at the moment there are some especially concerning the salaries of teachers, which in this PTM we are talking about as a hot issue, as well. It might not be a cover-up because in a way the government is just announcing that. We came across against the proposal of bringing teachers from Fiji over here, but the government continues to maintain its decision. So at the moment maybe around 15 teachers will come, but again it is another issue why not to train retired teachers here to teach rather than taking those ones from Fiji.
HB: The issue of posting salaries of the teachers has always been the issue. Now the government says that 15 retired teachers from Fiji, they have already had their posts confirmed.
WL: Yes, the salary situation in Vanuatu is always a problem. And it is still a problem now. That is one of the reasons we come against bringing retired teachers from Fiji to teach here because we still have salary issues here to discuss with the government, which we are not happy about. But then government, it is a slap. It takes a lot of burden from overseas to just teach while we still have problems with salaries here. So we see that as a real slap on teachers.
