KUCHING, June 30 — Sarawak’s proposal of employing interested graduates as temporary teachers will overcome the shortage of teachers in the state within the next three years.
Sarawak Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Research (MESTR) explained that under the proposal, the temporary teachers for recruitment would go through the qualifying test and interview conducted by the state Institute of Teacher Education (IPG).
It said those who passed and were selected would be required to undergo six months of practical teaching in schools during which they would be assessed by the IPG lecturers and the schools involved.
“Those who are found to be suitable will then be recommended and offered to do the Diploma in Education at the IPG for a period of one and a half years on a part-time basis while teaching.
“Upon completion of the course, those who fulfil all the requirements will be awarded the Diploma in Education which will qualify them to be appointed as trained teachers in grade DG41 both in secondary and primary schools,” MESTR said in a statement here, today.
As of April 2021, Sarawak faced a total of 3,385 shortage of teachers of which 1,545 are in secondary schools and 1,840 in primary schools.
If the proposal is accepted by the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE), MESTR is confident of resolving the issue of shortage of teachers throughout Sarawak within the next three years.
“We had discussed this proposal a few times with officers from MOE since 2019 and to this date, MESTR has not received an official reply from MOE yet.
“Even though we have not received it, the fact is that, one of the strategies or approaches taken by MOE as announced by the Senior Minister recently is very similar to our proposal,” it said.
