No teacher shortage in Sarawak, but issues faced with placement

There are no critical shortages of teachers in Sarawak, said Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn.

However, he revealed there are still issues with the placement of teachers due to teaching subject specialisation or teaching options and familyrelated matters.

“It is a policy to put spouses together within the same location. We do not want the husband to teach in Lundu, while the wife teaches in Lawas,” he explained in his winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) here yesterday.

He said the state has achieved the 90:10 ratio of Sarawakian to non-Sarawakian teachers.

For that, he thanked the federal Ministry of Education for its efforts to achieve this goal.

On the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English, Sagah said the teachers had little problem in delivering their lessons in English for both subjects and the students have shown a positive attitude towards lessons conducted in the language.

He said the teaching of both subjects in English is now in its third year.

“However, it is considered premature to determine the impact of the programme. It would take the entire six-year primary education to gauge the impact.

“Nevertheless, I’m confident that the programme will be able to achieve the desired impact in the long term,” he said.

Sagah added that the programme has benefited more than 80,000 students and 5,100 teachers throughout Sarawak.

Sagah looks at a copy of his speech. Also seen from left are his deputy ministers Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee and Datuk Francis Harden Hollis, as well as Education Division special administrative officer Jamiran Salam.