Ching Yong (centre), (from left, top) Chai and Ding during the press conference.
SIBU (Sept 19): The plight of 19 teachers working outside the state has caught the attention of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Central who will help to appeal to Ministry of Education (MoE) on their applications for transfer back to Sarawak.
According to SUPP Dudong chairman Wong Ching Yong, these teachers who have been teaching outside Sarawak for 29 to 104 months were unsuccessful in trying to get transferred back.
Meradong assemblyman Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing, who is also the bureau chairman said their side will compile all applications for transfer from these teachers to be sent to Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin and his deputy, Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon, besides trying to get the assistance of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
“Hopefully, we can get better results from this and if the Covid-19 situation improves, together with my team, we will bring up the matter personally to the Minister (of Education),” Ding told a press conference via zoom yesterday.
Earlier during a press conference held via Zoom, several teachers shared their plight and voiced out reasons for trying to get transferred.
Among them was Yong, a primary school English teacher in Selangor for quite some time. He said there are no other family members to look after his elderly parents and grandparents in Sibu as both he and his brother are working in the peninsula.
“If anything happens to them, I would certainly regret not being there for them and this would affect my teaching performance,” he said in hope that his application for transfer to Kuching would be approved by MoE.
Siaw, who has been teaching BM in a SJKC in Kuala Lumpur for 51 months wants to return to Sarawak as there is nobody to look after his two small children in Kuala Lumpur.
Another teacher surnamed Wong from Kuching voiced concern about the welfare of his mother staying alone in Kuching. The teacher in a SJKC at Perak said travelling back to Kuching is a hassle and costly as return flight tickets could cost about RM2,000 besides other transportation cost and time.
Hoo from Sibu who has been serving in Tambunan, Sabah for 104 months, reckoned that inadequate teachers for Chinese Language could be the reason her school is reluctant to release her as she needs the blessing of both the headmaster and Sabah Education Department to get a transfer back to the state.
Meanwhile, Sarawak United Association of Chinese Primary School Boards of Management president, Jonathan Chai also spoke during the press conference.