KOTA KINABALU: Graduates from Sabah and Sarawak should be given the opportunity to teach in their own states as they are qualified for the job, according to Sabah International Dynamic Management (SIDMA) College chief executive officer Prof Dr Morni Kambrie.
He said the two states are not a place for teachers from the peninsula to undergo basic training only to be sent back upon maturity.
He said the difference between the peninsula and remote areas in Sabah and Sarawak probably makes them unwilling to teach there for a long time.
“When the situation is totally different, their hearts are not there when they teach, but there are many graduates from Sabah and Sarawak who can teach in such the interior areas,” he said.
Morni was speaking to the media after the inauguration of Madrasah Jamiatul Fathi, a Islamic religious school set up by SIDMA College Sabah Branch in Jalan Bundusan yesterday.
The event was officiated by Islamic Association of Sabah (USIA) secretary general Major Abd Latiff Kandok, who represented USIA chairman Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Sakaran Dandai.
Morni said he welcomed the statement by Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun who is also the state education exco that Sabah is not a place for new teachers from the peninsula to undergo basic training.
He said he was told that every year the number of teachers from the peninsula applying to be sent back reach 1,000 but the number of teachers replacing them are less than 1,000.
This means that every two to three years the schools in both states would receive new and untrained teachers, who would ask to be transferred back when they have gained experience, he said.
At the same time, graduates from Sabah and Sarawak are denied the opportunity to undergoing training, he added.
“In addition, we are quite disappointed that graduates from private institutes of higher learning (IPTS) such as Universiti Tun Abdul Razak are not being accepted,” Morni said.
The Teacher Recruitment Division had issued a memo in October last year stating that teaching posts were only for graduates from public institutions of higher learning (IPTA) and Teachers Training Institute, he said.
“Nearly 70 per cent of our graduates are from the interior and they know the environment there.
“They do not mind being posted to such areas and are always willing to teach there, but they are not being accepted,” he lamented.
“If the department says teachers’ recruitment is based on projection, then why are there still schools that have vacancies for teachers and are not filled?
“For example, there is a school in Kalabakan, Tawau, that faces a shortage of five teachers but why are our graduates not taken and sent to teach at the school?” he asked.
Let Sabah graduates teach – CEO