Tangau
KOTA KINABALU: The country’s recruitment and placement system for teachers is in need of reform, said Tuaran Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau.
He said the unemployment rate among education graduates has been increasing even though there is a high demand for teachers to work in schools.
Tangau, who is the executive chairperson for Wisdom foundation, opined that this issue could be resolved through a structural reform in the devolution of powers.
“Listening to the views of various stakeholders, Wisdom Foundation felt that the Ministry of Education (MOE) needs to seriously consider undertaking reform in the teacher’s recruitment and placement systems with the objective of securing jobs for graduates in education thus closing gaps in demands for the relevant teachers,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
“According to the 2020 Ministry of Higher Education’s (MOHE) Graduate Tracer Study report, 116,161 fresh graduates in Malaysia will suffer the turmoil of unemployment, even a year after graduating.
“Of these 116,161 unemployed fresh graduates, 3.78% or 4,390 are Bachelor of Education graduates as determined by Gerakan Graduan Pendidikan Universiti Awam (GGPUA) in a study based on figures between 2011 till 2020,” he elaborated.
Tangau, who is also Upko president, said that the MOE had clearly failed in their duty to ensure there’s no mismatch in the supply and demand of teachers.
To make the situation even worse, he revealed that non-education graduates are now recruited as interim teachers under the Teach for Malaysia (TFM) Fellowship programme, instead of actual education graduates.
“As if that’s not enough, education graduates face difficulty in employment by non-education employers due to fear that these graduates may resign after being given the chance to become an Education Service Officer (Pegawai Perkhidmatan Pendidikan, PPP) grade DG41,” he said.
“Primary school teaching jobs should be open to Bachelor of Education graduates as well, not limited to graduates from the Malaysian Institute of Teacher Education (Institut Pendidikan Guru Malaysia, IPGM).
“Furthermore, adjustments are necessary to the Short-Term Employment Programme (MYStep) to permit the intake of Bachelor of Education graduates as replacement or contracted teachers while waiting for interview calls from the Education Service Commission (ESC),” he added.
Tangau further stressed that educational options should not be excluded in the consideration of PPP DG41 recruitments. For example, graduates with minors in Kadazandusun Language, Mandarin Language, Tamil Language, Iban Language are in need in schools which are offering these subjects.
He also stated that a Bachelor of Education degree should be made as a mandatory requirement to be a teacher to ensure that teachers are passionate and committed in the teaching profession.
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