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The Fiji Teachers Registration Authority is issuing a stern call to approximately 5,000 teachers, urging them to renew their registrations promptly or face the risk of deregistration.

Chief Executive, Sangeeta Singh they will be opening their office again this weekend to accommodate teachers who are yet to renew their registration which is expiring at the end of this month.

Currently, a total of 16,000 teachers are registered with the authority, and around 10,500 teachers with registrations set to expire on the 31st of this month have already completed their renewal process.

Singh has expressed concern for the remaining 50 percent of teachers who are yet to submit their renewal applications.

She further alluded that this week is also teachers’ pay week, making it an ideal time for teachers to complete their renewals.

“If the teachers do go to school in the next academic year with expired registrations, the Head of the Schools will pick it up, and we also remind them. We have a report that will pop up every day, indicating expired registrations with valid teaching contracts. So, reminders are sent to Ministry HR and district offices.”

Singh emphasizes that the FTRA has been diligently raising awareness since June, notifying teachers of the impending expiration of their registrations on December 31, 2023.

Despite these efforts, the response has been suboptimal, with only half of the affected teachers initiating the renewal process.

The FTRA is actively working to expedite the renewal process for those teachers who have already submitted their applications.

Singh highlighted that the FTRA extended its office hours over the weekend to accommodate teachers’ schedules.

However, only 75 teachers took advantage of this opportunity to complete their renewals.

Meanwhile, FTRA says their office will be open this Saturday to accommodate for teachers registration.