Serious shortage of English teachers, says union

Harry Tan sounds a warning of a continued drop in numbers and calls for more English teachers to be recruited for government schools.

Teachers’ union leader Harry Tan says Kelantan alone is short of 500 English Language teachers.

PETALING JAYA: The teachers’ union has urged the new federal government to increase the number of English Language teachers in schools, warning of a severe shortage soon.

Harry Tan, secretary-general of the National Union of the Teaching Profession said Kelantan alone was short of 500 English teachers, and the number must be increased immediately or the problem would worsen dramatically in the near future.

He said the numbers are likely to drop further. Malaysia currently has about 450,000 teachers altogether to serve the five million pupils in government schools.

Tan said the importance of the English Language was undeniable with growing globalisation and it was crucial for the government to deal with the shortage and improve the level of English-language proficiency in Malaysia.

“NUTP hopes that the new government will continue to support the initiative for Professional Up-Skilling of English Language Teachers which was already set in place by the education ministry.

Tan said an English proficiency survey last year had ranked Malaysia at 13th of 80 countries, giving that as an example of the need for more teachers. - FMT