Several concerns have been raised by the Fijian Teachers Association concerning the current education reforms.

Speaking at the opening of FTA Annual delegate’s conference in Suva this morning, President Netani Druavesi claims the current reforms are anti-Itaukei.

He claims the reform has shown there’s an anti-Itaukei program in place and this needs to be rectified to lift the level of services and production.

“About sixty percent of them have shown displacement of Itaukei teacher leaders. Itaukei are over fifty percent of Fiji’s population and previously and proportionately had leadership posts in more than fifty percent school leadership positions. ”

In response, Education Minister Rosy Akbar who opened the conference says the Ministry will look into these concerns.

She also used this opportunity to remind the hundreds of FTA member teachers that dialogue is the only solution to solve such issues.

“I heard you loud and clear and I think that was the reason behind inviting me. I could have taken a run and not accepted your invitation but I believe in dialogues, I believe in conversations and I believe in stakeholder partnerships. There’s always room for dialogues and I once again take note of the concerns that you’ve raised and I think we’ve had a few discussions from the time I joined office and these discussions will continue.

The association also raised concerns that some of their members did not receive consistent pay while some contracts were not updated.

There were also concerns that married teachers posted to rural schools couldn’t take their family and this affected their level of productivity.

The conference ends on Friday