The Teaching Service Commission (TSC) has rejected the Papua New Guinea Teachers Association’s (PNGTA) seven-day notice to respond to claims regarding the new Teachers’ Salary Fixation Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for 2026–2028, citing several procedural and administrative issues.
TSC Chairman Samson Wangihomie said the commission cannot enter into negotiations with PNGTA at this time, stressing that the current leadership of the teachers’ union has no valid mandate to represent its members.
“The position of the president and the National Management Committee (NMC) has expired, therefore TSC cannot go into negotiations with PNGTA,” Mr Wangihomie said.
He explained that any negotiation held under the current circumstances would not be recognized by other stakeholders, as the term of the PNGTA executives had already lapsed.
The TSC chairman also raised concerns over the correspondence sent by the Acting National General Secretary, Kingston Alu, who had issued a seven-day ultimatum to the commission demanding action on the 2026–2028 MOA.
“Why is the PNGTA General Secretary writing to the chairman of the Teaching Service when he is not even the president of the union but an employee of PNGTA? The letter has no effect because the acting General Secretary does not have the authority,” Mr Wangihomie said.
He added that the association had also failed to provide a log of claims to justify or support its request for new negotiations.
Mr Wangihomie further explained that the budget cycle for 2026 has already been finalized, making it impossible to accommodate any new salary adjustments or financial commitments for teachers within that fiscal year.
He said the 2023–2025 MOA, which was due for review in April, was not acted upon in time by PNGTA, resulting in further delays and complications.
“PNGTA came in very late to review the 2023–2025 MOA, just as they did previously in 2024. It is now too late for their claims to be considered for the 2026 money plan,” he said.
Last week, PNGTA Acting National General Secretary Kingston Alu had issued a formal notice to TSC demanding a response within seven days, warning that the association would seek legal advice if the commission failed to respond.
The standoff now raises uncertainty over the future of teachers’ salary negotiations for the 2026-2028 period, with both sides maintaining their positions on the matter.
The TSC should be up-to-date with the teachers pay and not the PNGTA reminding them always. If TSC can not respond to PNGTA, then the government should remove TSC. I think something is wrong with TSC so authorities should step in and check what’s going on,.thanks.
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