The Education Ministry says the much talked about English Proficiency and Job Test was discussed with the Fiji Teachers Union and the Fijian Teachers Association last year.

Permanent Secretary for Education, Iowane Tiko says examples of poor English by the trainee teachers were also discussed between the ministry and the unions before the implementation of the tests.

Tiko says the two tests should not come as a surprise to the FTU and other stake holders.

”We mooted the idea and what Agni is saying now is what he was stating to us as his personal view on the whole process when we discuss it through the Fiji Teacher Registration Board but the fact is that we all agreed that the weaknesses are there.”

Meanwhile, more than three thousand teachers sat for the first test which was prepared by the Ministry, out of which more than one thousand six hundred had passed.

Those who failed will be sitting a second test this Saturday.