CAN APPEAL MINISTRY’S MYAPA DECISION

‘I WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE THE TEACHERS THAT THERE IS AN APPEAL PROCESS WHERE THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO APPEAL AND THEY NEED TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE IF THEY THINK THEY ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE PAYMENT’. She also said she was waiting on the feedback on the number of

The Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts Rosy Akbar said teachers who were dissatisfied with the 2017-2018 MyAPA (Annual Performance Assesment) could appeal the decision.

Ms Akbar made the comment in light of the Fiji Teachers Confederation (FTC) recent advertisement voicing its disappointment on how the ministry carried out its teacher-based key performance indicators’ (KPI) assessment.

“On a positive note, I would like to encourage the teachers that there is an appeal process where they have the right to appeal and they need to provide evidence if they think they are eligible for the payment,” Ms Akbar said. She also said she was waiting on the feedback on the number of teachers who had appealed .

Ms Akbar clarified this during an interview in her office yesterday.

She added that no formal correspondence from the said union on the 98 per cent of 13,000 teachers being denied for MyAPA had been lodged.

“MyAPA payments were very clear when the moderation committee sat, and assessed documents that were presented to them by the schools and teachers where the committee came up with the list of those teachers who qualified for My APA,” she said. Ms Akbar said teachers who qualified had been paid for 2017/2018.

“The 2018-2019 assessments are still pending and as announced in the last budget by the Attorney General, the 2018-2019 assessment is still on hold,” she said.

What is MyAPA

According to the APA guideline, payments made under MyAPA are not pay rises, but are evidence and performance-based salary increment for eligible civil servants to reward improved or consistent performance.

The assessment is against the individual work plan (aligned with the operational plan), measuring performance against Key Performance Indicators, the Code of Conduct and Core Capability requirements.