Nearly 14,000 new teachers placed in schools this year

 

Education minister Fadhlina Sidek said she had instructed the ministry’s inspectors to check whether the seven measures to reduce teachers’ workload had been fully implemented.

PETALING JAYA: 

The education ministry has placed 13,749 new teachers in primary and secondary schools across the country this year, said education minister Fadhlina Sidek.

Fadhlina told the Dewan Rakyat that the teacher placement rate was 97.62% for primary schools and 95.16% for secondary schools as of Oct 31, adding that their placement also took into account subjects that were short of teachers.

“The issue of teacher shortage is something we are addressing diligently,” Bernama quoted Fadhlina as saying.

“We are confident in the ability of the Education Service Commission and the ministry to resolve this issue,” she said when replying to points raised about her ministry in the debate on the Supply Bill 2025.

In September 2023, the National Union of the Teaching Profession said schools nationwide were facing a shortage of 20,000 teachers.

Meanwhile, Fadhlina also said she had instructed the ministry’s inspectors to check whether the seven measures laid out to reduce teachers’ workload had been fully implemented.

She said this included discontinuing competitions, celebrations or ceremonies which did not have a major impact on student learning.

Other measures include reducing the frequency of the review of school management elements of the Malaysian Education Quality Standard involving teachers to only once a year.

The Dewan Rakyat later approved the operating and development expenditure of RM64,190,049,400 allocated to the ministry under Budget 2025. - FMT