A MASS resignation of school teachers is expected as a result of the
on-going political crisis.
Fiji Teachers Union general secretary Agni Deo Singh said many teachers,
especially those teaching in secondary schools have been making
arrangements to leave the country.
"Many secondary school teachers will be resigning and we will be left
with
a shortage of teachers in the near future," Mr Singh said.
"This has been happening throughout as was the case in 1987. They are
those with qualifications who can find jobs overseas."
The story is the same at the University of the South Pacific where a bulk of
the teaching staff have indicated their desire to leave the country.
Vice-Chancellor Esekia Solofa had said earlier that he expected some of
his teaching staff to go but could not establish the exact number of people.
The university has been closed for the past month and many expatriate
lectures have since left.
Secretary for Public Service Anare Jale said the scale of resignation in the
civil service is yet to be determined as time consuming procedures have to
be followed by those wishing to resign.
He said civil servants are required to give 30 days notice of resignation and
the resigning officer's department is required to establish the person's leave
entitlement before sending the information to the Public Service
Commission.
He said if the person is occupying a departmental post, the officer's
department accepts the resignation and later asks the PSC to publicise it in
the Fiji Gazette.
"In this context, we have yet to establish the level of resignations resulting
from the political crisis, but we believe
resignations, if they were to occur would run over a period of time rather than
an immediate reaction," said Mr Jale.
He said if there is mass resignation in the civil service, vacant positions
in essential services such as health, education,
water and sewerage will be filled first.
"Under normal circumstances, when officers go on leave, study, or are
sick on long durations, others in the
organisations take on the responsibility on an acting basis.
"If the situation worsens, given the financial and human resources, the
Commission might review the level of service it
will offer to society," said Mr Jale.
Fiji's Daily Post
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