Be patient, ministry tells jobless teachers

What is happening to Nigerian's Teachers is also happining to the world?

Read this article:

Saturday, February 10, 2007

THE Education Ministry has asked unemployed teacher graduates to be patient and wait for vacancies.

The ministry's deputy secretary for education, administration and finance, Filipe Jitoko said the ministry sympathised with those graduates who continued to wait for news of jobs at the ministry offices in Suva's Gorrie Street.

He said they should make better use of their time and qualifications.

"The Ministry of Education sympathises with these graduates, most of them now have a qualification, which could be utilised effectively elsewhere, instead of hanging around Quality House," said Mr Jitoko.

Mr Jitoko said the ministry had no authority over the issue.

However, teacher graduates said such explanations were not satisfactory.

"These things should have been sorted out last year so by now we would have known of where we stand," said one of them.

"It is not fair on us to come here everyday and wait sometimes from 6.30am to 5pm without getting anything," said a graduate from Lautoka.

Some graduates suggested the military should carry out a clean up campaign at the Education Ministry, saying there were lots of loopholes at management and operational level.

Fiji Teachers Union general secretary Agni Deo Singh said there were currently about 400 teacher graduates hunting for jobs.

Fijian Teachers Association president Tevita Koroi said it was likely that between 150 to 200 teachers would be employed in the next six months.

However, he said this could not be guaranteed.
End of story