Board members will be appointed on merit

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said that the Education Minister would appoint board members guided by these principles.

The Fiji Teachers Registration Act 2008 has been amended to allow the Education Minister to appoint board members of institutions based on merit.

The amendment will also result in the reduction of board members from 14 to nine to enable efficiency in its operations.

This came into effect after the Fiji Teachers Registration Amendment Bill 2018 was passed in Parliament on Thursday night.

While speaking on the amendment motion, Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the Bill would allow the Education Minister to select board members based on merit for the overall development of the teaching profession and improve education standards in Fiji.

He added said there was a need to reduce the number of board members to nine, with financial management skills, in order to maintain efficiency in its operations. The financial management of the board needs to operate effectively, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said in a manner to best achieve its function under the Act.

National Federation Party leader Biman Prasad claimed that Government had the tendency to make decisions on the running of institutions and organisations, adding that the amendments on this particular Act was a good example. He added that the education sector in this country had always been about partnership and that it was not efficient to highlight that more board members meant they won’t be able to do their job. Minister of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations, Jone Usamate said the Government had always tried its best to deliver good services for Fijians. The amendment, he added, would ensure that these institutions were governed with good structures. “I’ve sat in board meetings where members wouldn’t say a word because they have nothing to contribute at all,” Mr Usamate said.

“Their main duty is in the best interest of the organisation and not a particular sectoral group, the role of any director is for the best interest of the institution,”. In his closing statement, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the views raised by Mr Prasad were not based on logic.

He added the assumption from Opposition was the new appointment methodology would take away the institution’s independency which wasn’t the case in this amendment. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said that the Education Minister would appoint board members guided by these principles.

The board will consist of a chairperson and eight other members appointed by the minister.