Have more trainees in IPGs in Sarawak, STU calls upon MoE

MIRI: The Sarawak Teachers Union (STU) has called upon the Ministry of Education (MoE) to urgently increase the recruitment of trainees at all four teacher education institutes (IPGs) in Sarawak, and to temporarily source for teachers from outside the state to address the current acute shortfall.

In a statement yesterday, STU president Adam Prakash Abdullah pointed out that the IPGs had been producing fewer than 300 trained teachers annually, which was insufficient to meet the demand of primary schools in Sarawak.

He said as such vacancies could be temporarily filled with trained teachers from Peninsular Malaysia to ensure that students would benefit from quality education.

“STU hopes that the Sarawak state government would request the MoE for priority to be given to Sarawakian candidates to be recruited as teachers in Sarawak to fill the vacancies when teachers are transferred back to Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.

Referring to the statement on a 3,000-teacher shortage in Sarawak by Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Datuk Amar Michael Manyin, Adam blamed the state’s ‘90-percent-Sarawakian-teachers-policy’ as the reason for the shortage, which had affected school performance and raised the burden of teachers.

He said while STU appreciated the emphasis on having more local teachers, the policy must be prudently managed and it should not result in the current acute shortage of teachers in Sarawak.

“A review of this policy is needed to avoid jeopardising teacher performance in Sarawak,” he added.

STU also called upon the relevant authorities to source for graduate teachers from Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI), who had yet to receive placements in schools.

“The authorities concerned should get their hands on the list of available graduates and place them in schools if they fulfil the criteria of service,” Adam suggested.

STU also proposed MoE to adopt a twin-pronged approach of addressing the teacher shortage and graduate unemployment, by providing a graduates retraining scheme in Sarawak for the latter to serve as teachers .

Adam said these issues must be urgently addressed by both MoE and the state government to ensure that education at school and via online could proceed well.

STU hopes that the Sarawak state government would request the MoE for priority to be given to Sarawakian candidates to be recruited as teachers in Sarawak to fill the vacancies when teachers are transferred back to Peninsular Malaysia.

Adam Prakash Abdullah