Graduates who failed the English test should not be barred from teaching – Professor Baba

The Professor of Education at the University of Fiji Tupeni Baba says the graduates who failed the English test should not be barred from entering the teaching profession as they are just starting off in the field.

Professor Baba says he wants to see the test, however, any test involves a pass and a fail.

He says the teacher organizations and professionals of various universities should also be consulted on whether this testing system is appropriate.

Professor Baba says it is surprising to see that the graduates are sitting for this Ministry of Education English test.

He says he has no doubt that the graduates will grow in their roles as teachers.

Professor Baba also says that he does not see the multiple choice test question as a simple test.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry says they will compile the breakdown of the number of graduates from different universities that failed the English Proficiency Test and pass it on to them.

He says they are working on the numbers.

About 1,600 applicants passed the test.

It has also been revealed that many of the applicants that failed the Education Ministry’s English Proficiency Test were on temporary civil servant status.

Permanent Secretary for Education Iowane Tiko says they were from different areas of work but many were temporary technical teachers.

He says these teachers were recruited earlier and they want them to become permanent teachers but this cannot happen until they pass the English Test.

50% of graduates seeking to be teachers failed the test.

About 2,600 graduates sat for the Job Test hoping to get one of the 2,500 teaching positions being offered by the Ministry.

Those that failed the English Proficiency Test will get a chance to re‑sit the test this Saturday and if they fail the test again then they have to find another job.

Tiko says it is a basic test with multiple choice questions and imagine if they had instituted composition writing in the test.

He says when they assessed some of the letters being written by teachers to the Ministry of Education headquarters, they could not believe that it was being written by teachers in the field.