Wantok system is harming the Bougainville education system
10 October 2015
LEONARD FONG ROKA
A number of concerned teachers around central and south Bougainville have claimed they have been victims of the wantok system.
It has been claimed that preference for wantoks has become a regular practice in most education offices in Bougainville and needs to be dealt with by better leadership.
“We cannot talk about corruption in PNG today,” an unemployed secondary school teacher from the Panguna District stated.
“Corruption is now here in Bougainville and it is affecting our move towards a referendum by destroying the public service and the parliament.”
According to this teacher, her officially approved position in a high school was hijacked by another Bougainvillean teacher who merely walked into the Bougainville Education Office in Buka.
“I made every effort to get a reasonable explanation as to why I was removed from the position,” she said, “but the officer responsible ignored me. So I decided to quit teaching for the whole year.”
Such experiences do harm them to the whole education system in Bougainville. But teachers say that if they complain they are likely to be victimised.
It has been claimed that preference for wantoks has become a regular practice in most education offices in Bougainville and needs to be dealt with by better leadership.
Posted by: Keziah Nduta | 19 July 2016 at 11:48 PM