TWO separate incidents involving the physical assault of a teacher in Port Moresby and a headmaster in Lae have reached the attention of the PNG Teacher’s Service Commission (TSC).
The TSC says enough is enough.
TSC Acting Chairman, Maini Mike Ugaia in two separate statements issued strong warnings and condemned the assaults of teachers.
Mr. Ugaia said the Commission will no longer tolerate the victimization of its workforce.
In the Port Moresby incident, the assault was triggered by administrative delays and targeted neglect within the National Capital District (NCD) Education Department.
Mr. Ugaia said in January, the Commission issued an official directive instructing NCD Education authorities to reinstate a group of displaced teachers to their rightful positions.
While NCD authorities complied with the order for most affected teachers, they failed to act on the directive for one specific individual and that lasted for over seven months.
As a result of this the teacher was placed on payroll suspension before he was removed from the payroll in April.
This led to the teacher experiencing extreme financial distress and that resulted in a confrontation with the NCD First Assistant Secretary.
A video currently circulating on social media shows the NCD FAS punching the teacher during the altercation and the Commission also received reports that the teacher threatened the FAS prior to the physical altercation.
Following this assaulted, TSC Chairman Ugaia said while threatening a public official is entirely wrong, leaders must report such behavior to the appropriate law enforcement authorities rather than resorting to personal violence.
“When the TSC issues an official instruction to reinstate teachers, it must be applied fairly to everyone without exception. It is completely unacceptable that other teachers were accommodated while this specific teacher was left stranded and cut off from the payroll. We will not allow administrative processes to be weaponized to neglect or punish individual teachers, “said Ugaia.
In the incident in Lae, the School Headmaster of Morobe Technical High School was brutally assaulted following a recent confrontation between the school administration, parents and students.
The Commission views this latest assault as part of a deeply concerning trend of violence directed at educators who are dedicated to serving their communities.
“This is a serious criminal matter, and the police will deal with the perpetrators accordingly,” Mr. Ugaia said.
To assess the immediate impact of the incident, the Acting Chairman has directed the TSC Advisor for Morobe Province to visit the school immediately and submit a comprehensive situation report.
Ugaia emphasized that if administrative or internal issues arise within any school system, stakeholders must resolve them through proper, established institutional channels rather than resorting to violence.
“Teachers provide a vital service to the development of our children and our country, and their safety cannot be compromised. If communities continue to attack teachers, the TSC will remove them from that school and reassign them to different schools. There will be no educational services for communities that fail to respect and protect our teachers,” Mr. Ugaia said.
He warned that if students and communities continue to attack teachers, the Commission will immediately withdraw all teaching staff from the affected school.