Teachers asking to leave towns due to cost of living
KLUANG: The high cost of living is believed to be a major factor behind the dwindling number of teachers in major towns and cities, especially in Johor and Selangor.
Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said many teachers stationed in major towns and cities had asked to be posted to their hometowns, usually in smaller towns, as they were no longer able to cope with the rising cost of living.
Many teachers, he said, had applied to return to states such as Kelantan, Kedah and Perlis. He said if the trend continued, it could affect the education system.
“The shortage of teachers in major cities and towns such as Johor Baru, Pasir Gudang and Shah Alam is at a serious stage.
“This is made worse by the lack of replacements for these teachers. The ministry is studying ways to solve this problem, including raising the cost of living allowances for those stationed in big towns and cities,” said Maszlee, who is Simpang Renggam member of parliament, after presenting upgrading completion certificates for schools in Johor at SK Simpang Renggam on Sunday.
On dilapidated schools, he said the ministry would redouble efforts to ensure the projects that were given to rebuild and upgrade these schools would be completed soon.
Based on the statistics last year, the ministry identified 120 schools that are dilapidated throughout the country with 60 of them located in Peninsular Malaysia and 30 in Sabah and Sarawak.
More than 20 of the schools have been rebuilt or repaired through the first phase of the project.