Teachers to be RELIEVED of administrative duties - Muhyiddin

PETALING JAYA- Teachers will be free from their administrative duties in schools as such duties will be delegated to administrative assistants soon.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the move was to off load administrative duties currently carried out by teachers at their respective schools through the appointment of at least one administrative assistant at the 10,000 odd schools throughout the country, in stages.

"We have decided that 10,000 staff will be appointed at schools in stages so that they can ease the work load of teachers. That means teachers will not be burdened by administrative duties because it will be done by administrative assistants.

"Teaching and educating is still the responsibility of teachers," he said when interviewed on a TV3 programme 'Soal Jawab' by Executive Director of News and Editorial Operations of Media Prima Bhd, Datuk Ahmad Talib, tonight.

Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said the move was to ease the burden of teachers as contained in the Malaysian Education Development Plan 2013-2025 (PPPM) that would be launched on Friday.

Muhyiddin said the plan was a compilation of ideas from all stake holders, including students, and aimed at improving the quality of the teaching profession and the achievement of students so that Malaysia's education system can match that of developed countries.

"This is the result of demands from the community and experts in education, both from here and abroad, especially countries like South Korea, Singapore and Canada," he said.

Muhyiddin said some were not in favour of certain contents in the plan but after being briefed, they accepted the plan.

"Two days ago I met the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Hua Zong) and they asked me if the Chinese and Tamil schools will still feature in the plan and I have answered them 'yes'.

"The United Chinese School Committee's Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) however, says we are out to abolish all Chinese schools," he said.

As for Dong Zong's reluctance to extend the duration of the Bahasa Melayu period in Chinese schools for fear that it may 'weaken' the proficiency of the Chinese language among Chinese students, Muhyiddin said such a move was not aimed at reducing the proficiency of their 'mother tongue' but rather to reduce the disparity between SJKC and Sekolah Kebangsaan students.

"This group (Dong Zong) are not against the PPPM but they were not clear about certain areas of the PPPM. It is a misconception that the plan will hamper the proficiency of the Chinese language but in actual fact it will not," he said.

He added that 'whether rain or shine', the plan would be implemented because it is for the benefit of all communities.

"We want to ensure that there will be no obstacles to the plan. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has already given his 100 per cent blessing and support to the PPPM and even a special additional allocation is in the pipeline," he said.

Muhyiddin said through the plan, the role of parents, through the Parent Teachers Associations would also be strengthened to ensure excellence in education.

--BERNAMA