KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 — Over 9,000 new teachers will begin service in schools nationwide for the January 2024 school term session, said Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying.
The Education Ministry (MOE) will always strive to increase the number of teachers based on the schools' needs after the teacher shortage issue was also identified as the cause of increased workload for existing teachers.
"We have received the number of new teacher positions from SPP (Education Service Commission), and they will report for duty early next year.
"The most significant shortage of teachers is for subjects like Bahasa Melayu, English, Islamic Studies, and Design and Technology (RBT). The MOE always strives to ensure the number of teachers is increased from time to time,” she said during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Lim was responding to a supplementary question from Sungai Petani MP Mohammed Taufiq Johari regarding whether the teacher shortage issue, including the fact that many teachers are retiring earlier, resulted in an increased workload for existing teachers.
In reply to a supplementary question from Pengkalan Chepa MP Datuk Ahmad Marzuk Shaary on the welfare and infrastructure facilities for teachers in rural areas, following the recent case of a school headmaster in Sabah having to live in the school storeroom, she said the ministry is taking action.
"Follow-up action is being carried out to identify the cause of the incident, and we will manage every issue as best possible,” Lim said.
Meanwhile, during the same session, the deputy minister said the MOE also welcomed the Putrajaya Court of Appeal's ruling on the constitutional validity of using Mandarin and Tamil languages as the medium of instruction for teaching in vernacular schools.
The three-man panel, headed by Justice Datuk Supang Lian, unanimously delivered the decision after dismissing the appeals brought by four non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Islamic Education Development Council (Mappim), the Confederation of Malaysian Writers Association (Gapena), Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma), and Ikatan Guru-Guru Muslim Malaysia (I-Guru).
— Bernama
