[Source: Parliament of Fiji]

Minister for Education Premila Kumar this morning told the Opposition that they are not listening carefully while in parliament.

The Minister highlighted this when asked by SODELPA MP Mikaele Leawere as to when the rural allowance for teachers would come into place.

Kumar who was initially responding to a question about how rural and maritime teachers will benefit from the revised 2021–2022 budget, said the Minister for Economy had already made the announcement regarding this allowance.

“The announcement had already been made by the Attorney General, and we were all sitting in parliament. The problem is that we are not listening carefully. The allowance comes into place from the 1st of April. “

SODELPA Leader Viliame Gavoka asked Kumar as to why the allowance was taken away, to which the Minister responded that it was only held back due to COVID-19.

She says teachers in rural and maritime areas are excited about the revised budget because of the reinstatement of rural allowances.

Kumar adds that the Ministry will also carry out the building and maintenance of teachers’ quarters in 10 schools in the rural and maritime communities as there was an allocation in the reviewed budget.

She says in the last seven years, about 40 teachers’ quarters in 187 schools around the country have been renovated and built through building grant allocation to the tune of $4.4 million.

She says these quarters belong to the community and school managements are encouraged to rent them out to teachers and use the income to maintain these facilities.