Teachers call for retirement at 60

Torika Tokalau
Monday, October 15, 2012

THE teachers of Tilak High School (THS) in Lautoka want the retirement age to be at 60 and not 55 years old.

This was part of their submission to the Constitution Commission on Saturday at the Great Council of Chiefs complex in Nasese.

THS acting head of department in industrial arts Sumit Chand said teachers who retired at 55 years old still had a lot of experience they could give to younger colleagues. "They are still effective at 55 years old, it is not right to get them to retire at that age when they still have a lot to give to the teaching curriculum," Mr Chand said.

"We need senior teachers in Fiji and with their wealth of experience, younger teachers can learn from them. We ask that the new constitution change the retirement age to 60 years and not 55," he said.

In their other submissions, they wanted to see the Ratu Sukuna public holiday reintroduced into the Fiji calendar.

They also wanted to see education from primary to secondary secondary level be made available at no cost to underprivileged children. "We also want the student teacher ratio to be a maximum of 30 and not above this," Mr Chand said.