A Ministry of Education payroll verification has uncovered 13 ghost employees.

It also revealed wider problems with employment records that resulted in the salaries of 134 officers being stopped.

The exercise was carried out following recommendations in the Auditor-General’s 2024 Report.

Education Minister Aseri Radrodro said the verification was aimed at ensuring salary payments matched legitimate employment records and that public funds were not being paid to people who were no longer properly employed.

Radrodro says payroll verification is an established Ministry procedure and is not a new exercise.

The check found 134 officers without completed permanent appointment documentation. Their salaries were stopped in Pay 18/2026 after the Ministry found their signed contracts had not been returned for processing.

The Ministry says the affected teachers had already been issued permanent appointment contracts through the Fiji Education Management Information System in 2025. However, the signed documents were not returned through the required process to the Permanent Secretary for Education.

This meant the appointments were not reflected in the Ministry’s employment records, despite the officers continuing to receive salaries up to Pay 18/2026.

The verification also uncovered a more serious case involving a former teacher whose contract expired on 26 January 2025.

The former employee continued receiving salary payments until Pay 18/2026, despite no longer being employed by the Ministry.

Several other teachers were also found to have failed to renew their Fiji Teachers Registration Authority licences, as required under the FTRA Act.

The findings have prompted Radrodro to remind education officers that employment documentation and professional registration requirements must be kept up to date.

He has also criticised the practice of raising employment-related concerns on social media, saying officers should use established Ministry channels, including their Heads of Schools and District Education Offices.

The Ministry says affected officers were contacted about the salary cessation and had previously been reminded of the requirement for valid employment contracts in a media release issued on April 20 this year.