Seventh-day Adventist pastors and education directors in Papua New Guinea have been empowered to investigate allegations of misconduct and breaches of the PNG Teaching Service Commission (TSC) rules and church codes by teachers.
Papua New Guinea’s national education department has partnered with the PNG Union Mission (PNGUM) to empower the six pastors, who work as area supervisors, and 11 education directors to serve as charging officers.
TSC department staff held a workshop at the PNGUM office in Lae, Morobe, from April 26 to 27, where they trained the pastors, education directors and head teachers on disciplinary procedures and processes.
During the one and a half-day workshop, TSC chairman Samson Wangihomie, legal officer Hilda David Aipi and principal advisor Jerome Sawin talked about the different aspects of disciplining teachers.
Mr Wangihomie spoke about the authorisation and delegation of TSC powers to charge and suspend teachers while Ms Aipi and Mr Sawin explained the commission’s discipline procedures and processes.
The pastors and educators took part in practical sessions to fully understand the disciplinary procedure and process.
The 17 new charging officers, deputy principals and others who attended the workshop received certificates.
Mr Wangihomie commended the participants for understanding the disciplinary procedure and urged them to diligently do their work.
Meanwhile, the church education director Jim Yawane thanked the commission for conducting the workshop, which is reportedly the first among church denominations.
