Unvaccinated teachers: STU hits out at Radzi for ‘washing dirty linen in public’
KUCHING: The Sarawak Teachers Union (STU) is displeased with Senior Minister (Education) Datuk Radzi Jidin over his announcement that teachers who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19 may be transferred.
Its president Adam Prakash Abdullah said it was unnecessary for Radzi to penalise teachers by making the announcement through the media, thereby painting a negative picture of the profession.
“Instead what should be done is to call those teachers who refused to be vaccinated and solve the problem,” he said in a statement.
Adam said STU was certain that there are other civil servants in the country who refused to be vaccinated but this was never highlighted in the media.
“We should help these teachers and convince them on the importance of getting themselves vaccinated,” he said.
He also hoped that the Ministry of Education can discuss the matter with state Education Departments and find a solution to the issue soon.
“The Ministry of Education should probably also look
at the implication of such announcements in the future before washing dirty linen in public,” he said.
Radzi on Sunday said the Ministry of Education was considering transferring teachers who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19 elsewhere if their actions cause the teaching and learning process of students to be affected.
He said this issue should not be prolonged as the ministry had found that some of these teachers at certain schools were teaching the same subjects.
He also said that there were about 2,000 teachers left who refused to be vaccinated and that his ministry was waiting for the Public Service Department to decide on the appropriate form of action to be taken.