KUALA LUMPUR – Education stakeholders are concerned over the hiring process and qualities being considered in the government’s one-off scheme to hire more than 18,000 teachers starting next month.
Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said the hiring should be to address the shortage of teachers for certain subjects and not just increase manpower for the sake of it.
“There has always been a shortage of teachers, not in numbers, but in subject specialities. We hope that this recruitment of teachers will address the shortage in certain subjects.
“Also, the process of training new teachers should be strictly adhered to without compromise. High standards should be maintained at all times,” she told The Vibes.
Azimah also highlighted the need to focus on teachers for special education, as they are tasked with taking care of students with different needs.
“Many of the current special education teachers are hardly trained to teach special needs students. It is not merely about posting teachers to fill gaps; instead, (we need) better trained teachers to meet the needs of students with different degrees of severity.”
She added that many parents of special needs children have expressed disappointment with the training these teachers have gone through.
“The (education) minister also cannot deny that Sabah and Sarawak have been particular about their teachers being locals. Teachers from the peninsula are not easily accepted into Sabah and Sarawak. So, there is a need to identify the best teachers from the two states and train them well.”
National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Harry Tan, meanwhile, said the hiring process should include looking into a teacher’s aptitude, passion and even having the right voice.
“It is not enough to recruit them based on qualifications. We have received numerous complaints from past graduates with teacher training who have yet to be called for interviews.
“We must get the right people to be teachers. The would-be teacher must have aptitude, passion and even the right voice. We hope that the authorities cast the net far and wide so as to get dedicated people for the job.
“We welcome the government’s initiative to fill the gaps in our teaching profession. However, we want to stress our concern that this should not be just an exercise to address the unemployment issue in our country.”
Sabah Teachers’ Union president Said Saidi told The Vibes that teachers recruited for Sabah should be hired from within the state to avoid relocating them too far away.
He added that the union supports the hiring scheme to fill the demand for more teachers in Sabah, Sarawak, Johor and Selangor.
The union also hopes for better internet connectivity in rural areas, and more ICT and education digitalisation courses to be provided for teachers, so as to cope with the online home learning required for all schools today.
Last Sunday, Education Minister Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin had said those in the one-off scheme will be hired as Grade DG41 teachers.
The vacancy ads will be out starting July 7, and the ministry expects to place the new teachers from October.
Radzi had said the initiative will not affect regular hiring conducted by the ministry.
“We usually prioritise graduate teachers, but we also want to make sure we have enough quality teachers. So, we will look at all the candidates who have the best potential.
“In the coming years, we will keep adding new teachers because, every year, there will be existing ones going into retirement and we must replace them to avoid a shortage. And, we will also get new teachers when there are new schools.
“For primary schools, there is a significant shortage of English, history, special education, Islamic education, and information technology and communications teachers.
“As for secondary schools, there is a shortage of teachers for the Malay, English, special education, Islamic education, and technology and design subjects.” – The Vibes, June 23, 2021
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