Premila Kumar Responds to Minister for Education Over Blame on Unpaid Teachers

Premila Kumar has issued a firm response to comments made by the Minister for Education, Hon. Aseri Radrodro, accusing the government of deflecting blame onto unpaid teachers amid ongoing salary delays.

Hon. Radrodro had suggested that teachers were responsible for payment issues due to unsigned appointment letters. In response, Kumar described the remarks as “a desperate attempt to deflect from the government’s administrative incompetence.”

“This is not a failure on the part of our teachers. This is a failure of leadership,” Kumar asserted. “It is a failure of the Ministry’s systems, processes, and accountability.”

She questioned how the Ministry allowed teachers to enter classrooms and teach for over eight weeks without having signed appointment letters — a direct violation of its own policies designed to safeguard students and maintain professional standards.

“According to the Ministry’s own procedures, no teacher should enter a classroom until they have been officially appointed and documentation shared with the head of school, salaries section, HR records, and the teacher,” Kumar said. “By allowing teachers to begin work without proper paperwork, the Ministry has broken its own rules and compromised the integrity of our education system.”

Kumar condemned the Minister’s attempt to shift responsibility onto new teachers, calling it an unfair and humiliating attack on those who have stepped up to serve Fiji’s education sector.

“These are the very teachers the government claims to value. Yet instead of supporting them, it leaves them unpaid, humiliated, and publicly blamed for an error that lies squarely with the Ministry.”

Highlighting what she described as a troubling trend under the Coalition Government, Kumar noted, “Whether it’s teachers, nurses, medicine shortages, or a lack of diagnostic tools, this government continues to pass the buck rather than address its administrative collapse.”

She concluded by calling on the Minister for Education to take full responsibility, correct the administrative failures, ensure teachers are paid promptly, and reinforce proper appointment protocols to maintain trust in Fiji’s education system.