Polytech academic staff petition DHERST over unpaid entitlements and contract delays

The National Polytechnic Institute of PNG's Academic staff have started a sit-in protest to petition the prolonged failure to address contracts, salary and retirement entitlements.

The protest started yesterday and will go on for the next 14 days, ending 23rd of this month.

A spokesperson for the staff, Raymond Toli, clarified that there are number of issues causing the protest.
‘Since 2021, teachers are being paid on base level, some teachers not paid according  to their designated positions and there are unpaid retired teachers leading to more issues like staff turnover, aging population, etc..’

The Academic staff has received response from Acting Secretary for the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Lonnie Baki, addressing their letter of petition dated 23rd January, 2026, regarding the issue.

In Mr. Baki’s response, he stated that DHEARST as the responsible agency in providing oversight on the operations of higher and technical education institutions in PNG, is taking full responsibility in ensuring to rectify the many delays as well as pursuing those delays with other responsible agencies.

The staff spokesperson, Mr. Toli, also clarified that the protest is not a stop work as they  will still be administrating work at the department level.

‘Teachers as part of our duties as professionals, all assignments, test, and lectures will be managed at the department level.’

The academic staff demands immediate recognition and response from DHEARST during the protest period.