Mohd Kifflee (right) during the press conference.
KOTA KINABALU (Feb 8): The Education Ministry is urged to immediately implement a two-pronged action by creating a special application for teaching positions for graduates from Sabah to overcome the teacher shortage.
Sabah Government Teachers Association (KGKS) president Mohd Kifflee Alli said that doing so will not only solve the teacher shortage problem but also reduce the unemployment rate in Sabah.
“KGKS is also requesting that COS (Contract of Service) teachers who are serving and are still under the ‘contract’ status, to be appointed as permanent teachers if they have the qualification,” he said at a press conference held at the KGKS headquarters near here on Wednesday
He also said that KGKS is representing unemployed graduates and youths in urging the Education Ministry to allowthe graduates from Sabah to fill up the teachers shortage in the state as a step to overcome the unemployment rate, and also to curb the migration of more workforce from Sabah to search for opportunities.
“Based on data collected by KGKS, there are 111 graduates in Sabah who want to apply to become teachers, while 74 candidates have applied for the Contract of Service (COS) in 2021 but have not been summoned to be interviewed.
“The issue of unemployment is serious in Sabah and needs to be looked at holistically and addressed jointly by all parties, one of which is the involvement of the Education Ministry by taking advantage of the graduate force from among the people of Sabah as educators,” he said.
Mohd Kifflee added that the unemployment rate in Sabah during the third quarter of last year was 8.2 percent involving 174,200 people.
“We don’t want more of the talents in Sabah to migrate elsewhere as in 2020, 45,900 people from Sabah were reported to have migrated in search of job opportunities by the Human Resource Ministry. This brain drain issue is very chronic in this State,” he said.
He added that the best mechanism that can be adopted by the education sector at the moment to address the teacher shortage issue in Sabah is by taking advantage of the talents among the graduates in Sabah to become teachers.
“By doing that, not only will the issue of teachers shortage be addressed, the Education Ministry will also be considered as considerate towards the unemployment problem and loss of talents in the State,” he said.