Transfer FREEZE
PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry has indefinitely frozen with immediate effect a l l i nternal t r a nsfers, appointments and promotions involving staff in state education departments (JPN) and district education offices (PPD) nationwide.
Transfers and promotions at both JPN and PPD that took place over the l ast t wo months will also be reviewed.
Education Minister Maszlee Malik said the decision was made after he received reports on attempts to place officers who were still loyal to the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government in several strategic positions in the ministry.
"We are concerned that there may be attempts towards sabotaging (the agenda of the Pakatan Harapan government)," he told a press conference yesterday.
"We received many complaints from teachers and other stakeholders that this group is planning to control certain posts, and this could be dangerous to the education agenda that our government is bringing.
"This is a very disappointing matter. I do not want narrow-minded politicking to affect education institutions."
Maszlee did not elaborate on the number of staff who would be affected by the freeze, saying the process was ongoing.
On June 3, he said the ministry would take action against officers found to have abused their power in processing applications for the transfer of teachers as alleged in social media posts earlier this month.
Maszlee said the majority of those
affected were from northern states and the east coast.
“With this freeze, I hope the rakyat get the message that we will not compromise on any element of unhealthy practices in the country's education administration.
“This is especially so for those who (intend) to make life hard for us to reform our national administration system to be in line with Pakatan Harapan government policies.”
On a separate matter, Maszlee said the ministry has initiated an internal probe to identify individuals who were involved in a RM1 billion Sarawak solar energy project for schools in the interior, that was done without an open tender.
He also revealed that several ministry officers had attempted to rectify the issue when it first surfaced, but did not receive support from their superiors.
Maszlee said he has ordered immediate action on the matter to ensure power supply to the 369 schools were not affected.
“We have started an internal investigation to identify the perpetrators and to also find a mechanism to ensure this problem does not arise again,” he said.
“Contracts like this involve a huge amount of the rakyat's money and the people would want us to carry out our responsibility with complete trust.
“I have also directed my staff to find a solution to this project and ensure it is in line with the agreements and laws in place.”
On Sunday, Sarawak Report featured a story on former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak approving the RM1.25 billion solar project, but bypassed regular procedures by awarding it without an open tender to a car rental company, Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd.
The report also claimed that ministry staff who raised concerns over the project, which started on Jan 1, 2017 and slated for completion in December 2019, were transferred from their posts.