The Minister for Education and Member for Gumine, Lucas Dekena has called on the Governors and their Provincial Administrators to discipline Provincial Education Advisors who have not done their job properly by ensuring that their teachers’ Resumption of Duty Summary Sheets (RoDSS) were entered into the Alesco Pay System in the province. In a statement, the Minister made this call after 8,518 teachers were put off the payroll as a result of the auto-suspension exercise this fortnight which represents 13% of the total number of teachers who were on payroll as of Pay# 26/2023. “The initial date for auto suspension was on Pay 5 however, given more than 50 percent of teachers were to be affected, the Secretary for Education extended the exercise to come on Pay 10.” “All provinces were advised to ensure that their teachers submitted their RoDSS to be entered at the provincial level and for those who did not have access to Alesco to send them to Port Moresby as soon as they could." “Almost all provinces’ salary functions have been decentralized and have access to the Alesco Pay System except for Southern Highlands and Gulf Provinces.” The Minister said that teachers have been put off pay due to the lack of attention by provincial Divisions of Education. He added that the PEAs report directly to the Governors and the Provincial Administrators under the Organic Law 1995 and are not answerable and cannot be disciplined by the Secretary for Education. “The Secretary for Education only works in collaboration with the provinces to ensure that the administration of such exercises function smoothly.” “Almost all the PEAs have not done their job diligently considering the huge number of teachers that have been put off the pay.” Meanwhile the Payroll of the Department of Education has been directed to defer the auto suspension till Pay 12. The contributing factors to teachers being put off pay is due to late appointments done by provinces and the lack of proper documentations upon appointment. The practice of schools borrowing positions from another school also results in teachers missing out on being paid. “I now direct all the PEAs to assist their teachers to ensure that they have all the proper documentations and their RoDSS submitted to be restored on payroll or they will be referred to the Provincial Administrators for disciplinary actions.”