Former Education Minister in the FijiFirst Government Premila Kumar has criticised the regularisation of appointments within the ministry recently, describing it a ‘blatant disregard for the Constitution.’
The regularisation of posts for 1420 out of 1958 officers who were juggling both teaching and non-teaching roles was announced by Minister for Education Viliame Gavoka via a statement posted on the ministry’s social media page Facebook.
Kumar says this is not fair to those who deserve the post based on merit.
“The decision to bypass merit-based principles goes against the core values of fairness and equality. Equal opportunity must be given to teachers whether it’s appointments, acting positions, short-term contracts, promotions, or transfers. Sadly, the recent actions of the Minister suggest otherwise,” she said.
“The Ministry further violated the Civil Service values outlined in the Public Service Act – 1999, Part 2 (4 b)) states “Employment decisions in the civil service are made without patronage, favouritism or political influence, and appointments and promotions are made on the basis of merit after an open, competitive selection process.”
Kumar claims she has received complaints from disgruntled parties.
“Teachers have called the Opposition Office to express their loss of confidence in the system and are planning to seek opportunities abroad which is not good for Fiji.”
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