A TOTAL of 986 teachers in the Western Highlands Province will get leave fare packages this year, courtesy of Western Highlands Provincial Government.
The provincial government has budgeted K1.7 million for teachers leave fares this year.
It is an increase of K400,000 compared to last year’s in which K1.3 million was paid.
This good news was revealed by the chairman of leave fares committee Tom Noki after finalising the list for teachers last Friday.
Mr Noki said that the committee received 1725 applications in this year.
However, he said, out of that number, 986 teachers were eligible to go on leave while 739 were unsuccessful.
“We have screened the applications diligently and have found some flaws in them,” he said.
“We have found that some teachers had given false and misleading information for double dipping. Those are the ones whose applications are unsuccessful.”
Mr Noki said those teachers who intended to cheat will be referred to the disciplinary committee because they gave the committee a hard time trying to verify their applications.
He said the teachers will receive their leave fares one week before the academic year ends.
The administrator for Western Highlands Province Joseph Mangbil assured that education will be given priority in the province.
“Under Governor Wai Rapa, we are giving priority to education. We promote quality education,” he said.
Mr Noki said that the budget for teachers leave fares will continue to increase next year.
