Education Ministry committee to study shortage of teachers

0

Teo (centre) at the National Research and Educational Innovation Conference with (from left) Ibrahim Mohd Zain Badui director of Teachers’ Training Institute, Temenggong Ibrahim Campus, Dr Rusmini Ku Ahmad, deputy rector of Institute of Teaching Education Malaysia, Dr Mohd Nasrudin Basar, director of Research, Development and Innovation Centre and Zahirudin Mohammad Hanif, CEO of Yayasan Guru Tun Hussein Onn. — Bernama photo

JOHOR BAHRU: The Education Ministry has set up a special committee to study ways to tackle the shortage of teachers in several states especially Johor, Selangor, Sabah and Sarawak.

Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching said among the factors leading to the shortage of teachers in these four states was the high cost of living and the location of the schools in interior areas.

“The problem of a lack of teachers is not only in urban areas like Johor and Selangor but also in interior areas like Sabah and Sarawak, and the ministry has taken steps to resolve it.

“It is still under control but we need to find a quick solution, and one of the things we are considering is increasing the allowance so as to attract more teachers to the affected areas,” he said.

Teo was speaking to reporters after launching the National Research and Educational Innovation Conference (PPIPK) 2018 at the Teachers’ Training Institute, Temenggong Ibrahim Campus here yesterday.

He said the critical areas now were Johor Bahru and Shah Alam as teachers were not keen on teaching here because of the high cost of living.

“We are also discussing increasing the cost-of-living allowance for teachers here because these states are not their choice due to the high cost of living.

“However, this proposal is still being studied because we need to identify the strategic areas which really need this and we will make an announcement after the committee report is completed,” Teo said.

He added that in the case of ​​​​​​​Sabah and Sarawak, the ministry had implemented the 90:10 Policy with 90 per cent local teachers and 10 per cent outside teachers.

“So far, we have reached 87 per cent of local teachers in Sabah dan Sarawak,” he said. — Bernama