[Source: Ministry of Education FIJI / Facebook]

Education Minister, Aseri Radrodro says concerns have been raised about the inconsistencies in the processing of leadership positions in our schools.

Radrodro, who was touring some schools and education offices in the West, says some senior officers who have served in leadership positions for several years have been denied promotion and, under the Open Merit Recruitment System Guideline, have been replaced by those with much less or no experience in leadership positions.

He was speaking at an event hosted by the Fiji Teachers Confederation.

Radrodro says the lack of consultations has brought about unfair and non-transparent processes, and this has questioned the validity of the OMRS guidelines that are currently being used for appointments.

The minister adds that moving forward, he will hold more discussions with union reps as well as relevant stakeholders to effectively and fairly address such issues.

He says together with the executives, stakeholders, and unions, they will review the matrix used for OMRS, especially the selection criteria for heads of schools and post holders.

Radrodro says currently, the Ministry of Education is following two separate structures, where it is continuing with a bit of the old one and adopting some from the new.

For this reason, he adds, the team at the Ministry is looking at reorganizing the organizational structure to ensure efficient support service to schools from the district and head office.

He challenged both unions to work hand in hand to see that transparency, equity, and, most importantly, justice and fairness are maintained.