By Philip Buda Ladu
Unity State Ministry of General Education and Instructions has commenced the disbursement of salaries for teachers and education staff for the month of October.
Last week, the salary payment supervision committee established by the National Minister of General Education and Instructions, Awut Deng Acuil, arrived in the state capital, Bentiu, to oversee the process.
The exercise, which kicked off at the state Ministry of General Education headquarters in Bentiu on Friday, witnessed all the directors from the six counties’ education departments collect their staff’s salaries.
Stephen Tot Chieng, the Minister of General Education and Instruction in Unity State, spoke to the state-run SSBC radio and TV during the salaries’ rollout.
Tot said he called all education directors from the six counties of Unity State to come and receive their teachers’ payments to ensure transparency and accountability.
“As you have seen, we have called the various counties of Unity State to come and take the salaries to the beneficiaries,” he told the state media.
The state education minister directed that teachers who have been working in their duty posts are the only ones receiving this salary.
“My instructions to all the counties, as we have been instructed by the national ministry, are that each and every teacher who is in the field is the eligible person to receive the salary rather than those who are not in the field,” Tot told the education directors.
Elizabeth Amau Paul, the head of the salaries payment committee who led the delegation, said they went from Juba to Bentiu “to monitor this payment of teachers’ salaries.”
According to Amau, they are supposed to reach the ground to witness beneficiaries receiving their payments, but poor roads hampered their efforts. She urged county education directors to do the needful as demanded of them.
“Let this money go to the teachers because the teachers are suffering on the ground there,” Amau directed the local education authorities.
Meanwhile, Chuol Thiey, the Panyijier County Education Director, expressed joy upon receiving his county teachers’ salaries and operation money.
“As you can see, this is just a sample; we received both salaries for teachers and operational costs for our office,” he stated. “Therefore, we are happy that the delegates from Juba are here with us, and we appreciate the state ministry of education for their support.”
Gai Gatmai, the Leer County Education Director, was also among the local education officials who picked up the salaries of teachers for their respective counties.
“Today we just received the teachers’ salaries, and tomorrow I will be on the way to Leer County to deliver the salaries to the teachers,” he stated.
For his part, George Joan Panom, Mayom County Education Director affirmed receipt of the county teachers’ salaries together with operation costs, adding that “delivering services like this can improve education.”
Panom, however, emphasized the need for the government to pay teachers’ salaries on time.
“The great challenge we have is that there are a lot of delays; the money should come on time because teachers are really suffering in the field of education,” he echoed.
Kuok Gatdoor Kuwai, the Education Director for Rubkona County, also acknowledged receipt of both the teachers’ salaries and the operation costs of his county.
“I thanked the committee that came from Juba to monitor this work, and we thank our state ministry for standing firm with us to make sure the money is delivered to our various counties,” Kuwai added.