Andrew Wong Ling Biu
SARIKEI: The Ministry of Education has confirmed that 87 per cent of the 41,549 teachers in Sarawak are Sarawakians.
When answering a question posed by Sarikei member of Parliament Andrew Wong Ling Biu in Parliament last week, Minister of Education Dr Maszlee Malik said as of last month, 36,026 teachers in Sarawak are Sarawakians while 5,624 or 13 per cent are non-Sarawakians.
Wong said as such achieving the ratio of 90 Sarawakians to 10 non-Sarawakian teachers in Sarawak by next year is just 3 per cent short.
He said the process to meet the targeted ratio began in 2015 with the transfer of non-Sarawakian teachers back to the peninsula and approving the applications of Sarawakian teachers serving in other states to return home.
Wong said between 2015 and last month, the applications of 841 Sarawakian teachers serving in other states to return to Sarawak had been approved.
This comprised 177 applications approved in 2015; 198 in 2016; 201 in 2017; 129 in 2018; and 136 this year up till last month.