THE Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (MEHRD) has denied reports that rural teachers recommended by their respective Education Authorities [EAs] to undertake in-service training at the Solomon Islands National University (SINU) have been thrown out.
Instead, Permanent Secretary Franco Rodie said “there is no reason why 110 teacher applications were thrown away as you claim.
“The number you quoted is the number allocated to teachers. It is obvious that your informant has given you a lot of misinformation regarding the case of teacher scholarships,” Dr. Rodie said.
Insiders had earlier told the Solomon Star that some 110 places reserved for teacher in-service training this year had been withdrawn.
The list was trimmed down to just eight (8) places two weeks ago. Now the Ministry, through its tertiary scholarship division has rejected the entire list, citing a provision in the Education Act for denying rural teachers an opportunity to upgrade their training.
“The scholarship division misled Education Authorities [EAs] throughout the country by informing them that some 110 scholarships were reserved for rural teachers to undertake training this year. The EAs were told to select and endorse candidates for the training,” insiders said.
“But after the EAs have done a lot of work in coordinating the selection and endorsement of rural teachers, the Ministry has now back-pedalled on its earlier decision. The top brass in the ministry now say the decision to cancel the 110 scholarships for rural teachers is based on the law,” the insiders said.
“There (are) no incidents of what has been conveyed to you,” Dr. Rodie said.
He provided the breakdown of the 1,000 awards for 2021 as follows:
- Pre-service = 534
- Pre-service Constituency = 200
- In-service teachers = 110
- In-service public service = 50
- In-service private sector = 106.
In response to questions on the delay of announcing the final selection list, Dr. Rodie said:
“The simple answer to your question is; it took the SITESA/National Scholarship Division a wee bit more time to do the selection process than anticipated, which also depended on the Committees (outside of MEHRD) established to go through the candidates that were shortlisted.
“This is an essential part of the selection process. While it is critical to put out the recipients of the 2021 scholarship list, the fact of the matter is that they will not commence their studies until the second semester, that is, around July 2021,” he said.
“So yes, the target date for the release of the results was not accomplished for the reason mentioned but there is at least two months before the recipients will begin their studies.”
Solomon Star has learned from other sources that the Ministry’s decision was based on a new selection process introduced at the behest of politicians earlier this year.
That selection process also covers new students who have applied for scholarships administered by the NTU this year.
“Many within the education community have raised concerns about the new selection system, which they said would deny many, many talented students opportunities to advance their academic career,” they said.
In a radio talkback show earlier this year, the scholarship division told the nation that the final list of students would be published by the end of April this year.
“Now the Ministry is saying it expects the final listing of scholarship awards would be made known at the end of June. The reason for this delay is because the list would have to be approved by Government Caucus and subsequently Cabinet before the names are made public,” the sources said.
“It’s the same thing all over again – politicians deciding who gets a scholarship rather than a decision based on academic merits.
“The selection process is becoming a farce,” the insiders said.
By Alfred Sasako
Newsroom, Honiara
