Release names of teacher candidates, says Sarawak deputy minister

 

Dr Annuar Rapaee, a Sarawak deputy minister for education, accused the Education Service Commission of ‘non-transparency and insensitivity’. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

A Sarawak deputy minister has called on the Education Service Commission to make public the names of teachers shortlisted in a recruitment drive, following a brouhaha over 300 non-Sarawakians making the list.

Dr Annuar Rapaee, who is state deputy education minister, said the list of names should also be shared with the state ministry, The Borneo Post reported.

Annuar said the commission’s 

blunder, non-transparency, and insensitivity

 in recruiting contract teachers under a scheme initially meant for Sarawakians, had led to a lot of flak for the ministry, the minister and deputy ministers.

Stating that he was making a 

personal demand

, Annuar said the commission 

should come forward to clear the air immediately

 and make known to the public those who were called for interviews under the contract scheme.

Annuar said he had asked the commission’s Sarawak office about the matter, but did not get any response.

He said there were cases where non-Sarawakians were called in for interviews under the contract scheme.

He reminded the public that the state ministry had nothing to do with the recruitment of the non-Sarawakians, as recruitment was solely the prerogative of the federal commission.

He accused the commission, which handled the exercise, of having 

caused confusion and dissatisfaction

 among Sarawakians.

He also said the Sarawak ministry would not keep quiet on matters that had been agreed upon by the state ministry and the federal education ministry.

On Monday, it was revealed that 300 applicants from outside Sarawak were among the 1,700 shortlisted candidates under the special teachers’ recruitment drive for the state.

State education minister Roland Sagah Wee Inn said only applicants from Sarawak should be accepted under this initiative.

Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg later stated the state government wanted to avoid a situation in which non-Sarawakian teachers would ask for a transfer after a few years.

The Sarawak Bumiputera Teachers Union has stated that the 300 candidates from Peninsular Malaysia were included in the special recruitment drive to deal with the scarcity of Islamic religious teachers in the state. - FMT