Education Ministry looks to recruit over 18k new teachers

 

The Education Ministry through the Public Service Department will embark on a one-off recruitment drive for 18,702 new teachers to fill vacancies in schools nationwide.

Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said recruitment through the Public Service Department at Grade DG41 will be advertised beginning July for placement by October, with priority given to candidates with an education background.

He said considerations will be made to fill vacancies at primary and secondary levels in certain subject options, for example, Bahasa Melayu and English, as well as in states with an overall shortage of teachers.

"We see states like Sarawak, not only does it have the highest number of vacancies, the percentage of placement is also low.

"We are not saying there is no shortage in other states, it is happening everywhere, but this (Sarawak) is among the top four states with the highest number of vacancies," Radzi said at a virtual press conference this morning.

He said part of the shortage could be attributed to a lower intake to teacher training colleges since 2016.

On the other hand, there was also a mismatch between graduates' teaching options and available positions, with a surplus in some subjects leading to placement difficulties.

"The Education Ministry requires teachers for certain subjects, but there were limited supplies.

"However, there were more candidates for subject options which vacancies have been filled," he said.

Given the circumstances, Radzi said the one-off recruitment intake could incorporate a larger pool of candidates from non-academic backgrounds and trained in specific subjects.

He added that its aim was to address the issue of overall teacher shortage and future recruitments will be carried out to fill other vacancies from scheduled retirements or other factors.

As Malaysia looks towards unrolling its Covid-19 exit plan, the new teaching recruits would start their duties in schools set to reopen by September this year under Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan. - Mkini