DG: We don’t separate spouses for fun

Teachers are not being separated deliberately from their spouses.

The only reason why some are separated is because the postings are based on the needs of the schools in certain areas, said the Education Ministry.

Director-general of Education Datuk Dr Amir Senin said teachers were posted and transferred based on their expertise and where this expertise was needed the most.

“The utmost priority is to ensure that our children are given the best education. Other than that, consideration for approval is also based on other factors such as chronic diseases, physical threats, length of service and other logical and relevant causes.

“The issue arises when there are no vacancies based on subject needs in the school or district of their choice,” said Amir.

The DG of Education is the one in charge of postings and transfers of teachers nationwide in MOE.

“Teachers who work in remote areas may apply for transfer after three years of service while those who work in cities or rural areas may apply after five years.

“Teachers may apply for transfer to be together with their spouses in different states after just one year of service, with terms and conditions,” said Amir.

He said there were no special treatment or compensation package and financial coverage for teachers who are posted away from their spouses.

According to MOE, 39.27% of cases involving teachers whose spouses work and stay in different states have had their applications approved (based on transfer in June 2018 and January 2019).

Another round of application through the transfer website called egtukar is allowed this year for those who were not successful.

“Teachers who are not successful in their application for transfer in January 2019 and others who wish to apply for transfer in June 2019 and January 2020 may submit their application online from Feb 18 to March 27 this year,” said Amir.

The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Harry Tan Huat Hock said the problem worsened as there were more women joining the teaching profession and the old reasoning that wives should follow their husbands in their postings could not be applied.

“We support MOE’s move to solve the problem but since the majority of the teachers are women, with schools having a few or no male teachers, it is an uphill task for the ministry. We advocate a fair system where senior teachers are given preference in the transfer,” said Tan.

He also pointed out there was a dire mismatch of teachers in certain states with the subject teachers needed.

“Kelantan needs 500 English teachers but there is an excess of teachers of other subjects. Johor has a severe lack of teachers. Why is this happening?

“Who created this problem in the first place? Where is the planning?” he asked.

Kelantan has been cited by teachers as the most difficult state to get posted to, especially by teachers who hail from the state itself.

Tan also said the egtukar website should be recalibrated as teachers could only request transfer based on their options in their teaching certificates and not the subjects which they are teaching in their current school.

Tan said most teachers did not teach the subjects they were trained in.

“The minister is on the right track by finding out from the stakeholders about these problems, but many little napoleons are hindering his good efforts,” he said. Meanwhile, The Star’s TAN SIN

CHOW quoted Penang branch NUTP chairman Ng Weng Tutt as saying that Dr Maszlee Malik “has been doing a great job in taking care of the teachers’ welfare”.

Citing an example, he said the Education Minister had personally looked into the case of a teacher from SK Genting who went into depression as she had to commute from Langgar (Alor Star) to Balik Pulau (Penang) on a daily basis to teach at the school.

The teacher had since been transferred to her hometown, Ng said.