KUCHING: The Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU) has urged the Ministry of Education (MOE) to recruit more trainee teachers in the state.
This came after Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Datuk Seri Michael Manyin Jawong said that the state is short of more than 3,000 teachers.
STU said the teacher training institutes (IPGs) in Sarawak can only produce about 300 trained teachers annually.
“The union hopes that the vacancy can be filled through temporary interim action through recruitment of trained teachers from Peninsular Malaysia so that our students in schools are taught by trained teachers.
“STU also hopes that the state government will urge the MOE to give priority to Sarawakian candidates to be trained as teachers in Sarawak to fill in the vacancy when fellow teachers from Peninsular Malaysia return to their home state,” it said on Monday (May 10).
The union said a review of the 90:10 policy needs to be made so that teachers in Sarawak will not be overwhelmed with work which can ultimately affect their performance.
“Regarding the policy which has been prioritised by the state government, STU appreciates the struggle but hopes that it will not have a negative impact such as causing the shortage of 3,000 teachers in Sarawak at this time.”
STU hopes that MOE can also provide a retraining scheme for graduates in Sarawak who are ready to serve as teachers.
“The retraining scheme for graduates will be able to help increase the production of trained teachers in Sarawak and further reduce the number of unemployed graduates,” it added.
