Call to exempt experienced teachers from deadline

Samoa Tautua Party whip and Faleata West MP Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi says that teachers with more than ten years experience should be exempt from a deadline requiring degree qualifications by next year.

He strongly opposes comments from the Public Service Commission (P.S.C.) that teachers should go back to school to get better salaries.

“Nothing beats experience.”

Degrees come after, said Leala. His comments follow statements made by P.S.C. Chairman Tuu’u Dr. Ieti Taulealo in response to calls from teachers across the country to raise their pay.

At a press conference earlier last week, Tuu’u made claims that the current P.S.C. salary structure only allows teachers to have low pay if they have no university degrees.

And any teacher who doesn’t have a degree will never get a salary range over $20,000.

But Lealailepule said he strongly believes that “special treatment” is required for this profession.

He questioned who would teach the students if 88 per cent of the teachers with no degrees have to head back to university to study.

He believes that there should have been some foundation in place long ago to deal with this issue.

Especially since qualifications are not a new matter but an issue that has been brought up many times.

Lealailepule is also against the fact that Tuu’u had responded after Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi had already spoken about the matter.

“The Prime Minister doesn’t talk about one thing and these people about another.”

He said the role of P.S.C. and officials is to act as advisors of government.

Regardless of what their decision is – right or wrong, the government makes the final call, he said. Leala has called the response from Tuu’u “inappropriate”.

The expertise is with the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture, he said.

“P.S.C. advises but does not instruct M.E.S.C. on what to do,” said the Tautua whip. He is also rubbishing claims by P.S.C. that there are no “teacher shortages”.

“How is that possible when every M.P. that speaks in Parliament brings up this issue of teacher shortage?”

This very issue has been brought up even in the past parliamentary terms said Lealailepule.

His views regarding teachers were also shared by Shadow Minister of Finance and Tautua Party member Afualo Wood Salele.

He thinks that teachers who have served longer than 10 years as teachers should not be included in the push by P.S.C. to have teachers return to University to get their teaching degrees.

It was also unfair on teachers living on Savai’i.

“This is why it was suggested that a branch of the National University of Samoa (N.U.S.)be established in Savai’i.

“Now this has come up,” he said. He also believes that redundancies should be prepared for teachers that are coming close to retirement age.

Because, “no elderly teacher wants to return to school”. Shadow Minister of Education Sports and Culture, Aveau Niko Palamo also questioned the deadline to have all teachers qualified by next year.

He asked if teachers were being encouraged to go back to school for five years to get their degrees - who would fill the void.

He is sure teachers want to return to get a degree but “the problem is time”, he said.

“You cannot say that there are more teachers to students – some teachers are teaching three levels.”

He raised the issue of a lack of respect shown to teachers, including students laughing at teachers when they speak English.

“Just because a teacher speaks good English doesn’t make them smart - English is not our language.”

He feels that classes should be conducted in the Samoan language to solve this issue.

“All teachers are intelligent”.

And what is needed is for teachers to come up with good teaching methods to accommodate and ensure that students are well educated.