The Teaching Service Commission (TSC) is still waiting for its board to sit and make a decision regarding replacement teachers.

These are teachers who were recruited during the industrial strike that involved more than 2,000 teachers between 2024 and 2025.

VBTC News has been informed that by the end of this week, or early next week, the TSC board is expected to meet to discuss the issue.

There are more than 500 replacement teachers whose situation the Teaching Service Commission must resolve before 26 January, when schools are due to begin their academic year.

As part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed between the government and the Vanuatu Teachers Union, teachers who participated in the strike are allowed to return to the schools they left when they joined the strike in 2024.

In a statement on social media, Teachers Union Secretary General Jonathan Yonah said that on 19 January, teachers who went on strike should report back to the schools they were previously assigned to.

He warned that if any school council or principal refuses to allow them to return, it would mean the government is breaching a condition of the CBA agreement.

Mr Yonah added that such action could escalate the matter to another level of dispute.

In the weeks leading up to 19 January, the government and the TSC must ensure that returning teachers have positions available to resume teaching in the classrooms they previously left.