THE Sarawak Teachers Union has urged the federal Ministry of Education (MOE) to allow hundreds of Sarawakian teachers serving elsewhere in the country the option of swiftly transferring back to the state for the new school year.
Union president Kullin Djayang, in making the call today, stressed that schools in Sarawak will start the new year with a serious shortage of teachers in many primary and secondary schools.
This is despite the MOE having approved the appointment of 1,108 newly graduated teachers to serve in the state.
"The ministry has just announced that it will be sending 1,108 new teachers to Sarawak for the new school year 2024,” he said. “Out of this number, 422 teachers will be for primary schools and 686 for secondary schools.
"However, despite this welcomed move by the ministry, there will still be an immediate shortage of at least 1,500 teachers in Sarawak as we start the school year,” he said.
The ministry can resolve this by swiftly making a decision to allow all Sarawakian teachers now serving in other states to have the option of returning.
"The ministry had in fact already said in the recent past that Sarawakian teachers will be given priority to serve in Sarawak," he said in a statement.
The Sarawak Education Department had announced on December 23 that it had received 1,108 new teachers consisting of graduates from public and private universities for posting in the state.
The department said that the 422 teachers given placement in primary schools and the remaining 686 teachers in secondary schools would see to their duties effective this Thursday.
It had also expressed appreciation to the Sarawak Education, Innovation and Talent Development Ministry (MEITD) and the Sarawak Branch Education Services Commission (SPP) for their support in helping to overcome the shortage.
Kullin said that the union welcomes the new teachers to Sarawak as they are mostly fresh graduates from teaching colleges.
He acknowledged that the MOE and MEITD, as well as the Sarawak Education Department, are working hard to resolve the persistent shortage of teachers in many schools.
He explained that the current shortage is caused by the mandatory retirement of teachers who reach the stipulated age limit for service, as well as the compulsory transfer of teachers to other states.
"That is why our union is saying that to resolve this problem fast, the ministry should open the door to all Sarawakian teachers to come back to serve in their home state, if they opt for this," he said.
The shortage of teachers in Sarawak is not a new issue.
It is a nagging problem affecting schools in urban as well as rural districts in this vast state every year. – The Vibes, December 26, 2023
