Have a heart over teacher transfers, says Sarawak minister

 

Sarawak state minister Fatimah Abdullah said genuine transfer requests should be swiftly approved to avoid causing mental anguish or distress. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

A Sarawak minister has urged the federal education ministry to show greater compassion and empathy to teachers who request to be transferred due to personal crises.

State women, childhood and community wellbeing development minister Fatimah Abdullah cited the recent case of one “Cikgu Din”, who requested to be transferred out of Sarawak to be with his seriously ill wife.

Fatimah said such genuine requests should be swiftly approved by the ministry to avoid causing teachers mental anguish or distress, The Borneo Post reported.

“Inter-state transfer lies under the ministry’s jurisdiction. I believe this was his first posting, and since he is a new teacher, he was not entitled to a transfer yet.

“On the other hand, and on humanitarian grounds, the teacher could be considered for a temporary posting (in Kelantan) so he can be with his cancer-stricken wife,” she was quoted as saying.

Cikgu Din’s plight caught the attention of netizens after he shared his situation on Facebook, saying repeated applications for transfers to be with his sick wife were rejected, even leading to him suffering depression.

Yesterday, the education ministry announced that it has granted the teacher leave to be with his wife. It did not disclose how many days of leave he was given. The ministry also said officials would meet the teacher soon to discuss the kind of aid the ministry could offer. - FMT