KUCHING: More local headmasters are needed in order to improve the state’s educational standards in primary schools, said Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research, Dato Sri Micheal Manyin Jawong.
According to Manyin, young and local teachers are needed in order to take over the retiring headmasters every year as the numbers of local headmasters are getting less.
He said the headmasters position does not attract the local senior teachers to take over the post as they are reluctant to sit for the National Professional Qualification for Educational Leaders (NPQEL) course which is a compulsory for the position.
“Many of the teachers do not want to be headmasters because of the NPQEL course, and for that we want to urge the local teachers to apply for the position.
“If not, the State Education Department will have to get the headmasters from the Peninsula to fill in the position,” said Manyin in his keynote address at the Sarawak Headmasters Conference (Southern Zone) at Imperial Hotel yesterday.
Manyin also pointed that headmasters also play an important role as a manager, apart from teaching.
He said that headmasters are not only teachers, but they are also managers and leaders.
“They are responsible for the management and general administration of their schools and are instrumental in the performance of their schools,” he said.
The three-day course saw participation from more than 400 headmasters in the Southern Zone.
