Adam Prakash Abdullah
KUCHING (June 20): The Ministry of Education (MOE) and Education Service Commission (SPP) have been urged to come up with clear guidelines and instructions for the special one-off recruitment of teachers to overcome the shortage of educators faced across the country.
Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU) president Adam Prakash Abdullah said this is to ensure a smooth application process so that the 18,702 teaching vacancies can be filled as soon as possible.
He was responding to Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Jidin’s announcement that the Ministry of Education will implement the special one-off recruitment drive to address the country’s shortage of teachers particularly in Sarawak, Sabah, Selangor and Johor.
“STU welcomes the announcement made by Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Jidin on the recruitment of 18,702 Grade DG41 teachers to fill vacancies nationwide.
“At the moment, Sarawak is facing a shortage of 3,000 teachers and we hope that with this announcement, the teaching vacancies will be rectified and schools will be able to operate on a full teaching capacity,” he said in a statement.
He called on unemployed graduates residing in Sarawak who are interested in teaching to take up this opportunity to join the teaching profession.
“This is an opportunity not to be missed for graduates to serve in the state,” he said.
He also proposed that the Ministry of Education look into the list of unemployed graduates in Sarawak who have completed their education degree from local universities and are still awaiting placement in schools.
“These graduates are ready to work as they have the necessary academic qualification,” he said.
Meanwhile, Adam said STU would like to request for the State Education Department to assist teachers who have fulfilled the requirements for transfer by placing them appropriately based on their application in the next transfer exercise.
“This will provide these teachers with the opportunity to move to other schools or stations after serving several years in their current schools before the new postings of teachers are carried out,” he said.
He hoped that the one-off recruitment exercise will help ease the shortage of teachers in Sarawak.
“We also hope that the Ministry of Education will consult with the State Education Department to place appropriate teachers in schools based on the requirements of the schools.
“We would like to see all schools have a sufficient number of teachers based on the subjects required by the schools,” he said.
Earlier today, Radzi said the application for the special recruitment of grade DG41 education service officers will be opened from July 7 to enable these teachers to be placed in their respective schools, in stages, starting October.
He said during a virtual press conference that the Ministry of Education will work with SPP to ensure that planning for this programme runs as smoothly as possible.
He said Sarawak, Sabah, Selangor and Johor were the four states in dire need of new teachers especially for subjects such as English, History, Islamic Studies and Special Education Programme.
He also said that the recruitment drive is not limited to those with teaching degrees as the Ministry of Education is open to hiring people from other fields if they are suitable for the job.