Some children in rural Papua New Guinea have no school to go to because of an acute teacher shortage.
School in East New Britain, PNG. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
The chairman of the Teaching Service Commission, Baran Sori, said there are about 10,000 vacant positions for teachers nationwide.
He said in some cases parents had to move to urban centres to have their children enrolled in schools.
Mr Sori said there weren't enough institutes to train the number of teachers needed and most of the vacancies existed in rural and remote locations.
"Teachers are not attracted to go to rural or remote areas, we call them disadvantaged schools. If we cannot get teachers to those areas definitely we frustrate the government's objective of providing education for all."
Baran Sori said teachers who go to remote areas get extra benefits but negotiations are ongoing to improve them.
