Hotspot teachers to get special allowance

Dr Maszlee: Move made to overcome shortage issue in states like Johor and Selangor

SIMPANG RENGGAM: Good news for teachers in Johor and Selangor – they will be getting a special allowance under the Budget 2019 to be tabled next month in Parliament.

“The ministry will make sure that teachers (teaching) in specific areas in Johor and Selangor will get the special allowance,” said Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik.

He said the special allowance for teachers in these two states was among the requests submitted by the Education Ministry to the Finance Ministry for consideration to overcome issue of shortage of teachers in the two states.

Dr Maszlee said out-of-towners were not keen to take up teaching posts in both states which contributed to the shortage.

“Many cited high cost of living as the main reason they were not keen to teach in Johor and Selangor,” he said.

It was reported Johor Baru and Pasir Gudang in Johor and Shah Alam as areas with schools that were experiencing shortage of teachers.

It is understood that teachers from other states would request to be transferred back to their hometown after teaching for a few years.

He said the ministry wanted to further strengthen the teaching of technical and vocational education (TVET) and to upgrade dilapidated schools.

“Sabah and Sarawak have the highest number of dilapidated schools in the country and most of them are located in the interior areas,” added Dr Maszlee.

According to news reports, there are about 1,300 dilapidated schools in Sabah and Sarawak which have no electricity supply, lack of treated water supply, no proper road access and only accessible by river or sea.

Earlier, Dr Maszlee, who is also the Simpang Reggam MP, launched the free bus service – Bas Harapan Johor plying the Simpang Renggam Bus Terminal, Jalan Besar and Jalan Simpang Renggam.

The Bas Harapan Johor is the rebranding of Bas Muafakat Johor introduced by the previous Barisan Nasional state government in April 1, 2016, with 15 routes in Iskandar Malaysia.

Presently, there are 63 routes and 79 buses offering free bus services to locals in Johor.

Many cited high cost of living as the main reason they were not keen to teach in Johor and Selangor. Dr Maszlee Malik