Teaching students the wrong lessons will have a devastating impact on our collective future, said former international trade and industry minister Rafidah Aziz.
She said this in calling on the government to be judicious in selecting the right teachers for the mass hiring scheme recently announced by Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin.
"Wrong things that are taught, or imparted in an inappropriate way, can have a negative long-term impact especially when race, faith and such elements are introduced, based on purely personal and subjective perceptions.
"Teaching is a very important profession and they should add value to forging and nurturing good values amongst the young generation," Rafidah told Malaysiakini, adding that the government should go for quality of teachers, not just hire in mass quantities.
On June 20, Radzi announced that his ministry will recruit 18,702 educators in a one-off scheme aimed at addressing a teacher shortage.
He said they will be hired at Grade DG41, and vacancy ads will be out starting July 7 for placement in schools by October.
"We should not play the numbers game and rush to quantify it. We must look into the quality of our entire education infrastructure because that will determine the very future of the nation.
"Especially in the context of creativity and innovation, entrepreneurship and business success, and having public and administrative sector functionaries, who have strong integrity, honesty, and sense of responsibility and accountability," Rafidah said.
She added that teacher's training is pivotal for education to be imparted in the most effective and relevant way to benefit the nation.
"In this era of rapid advancements in the entire spectrum of IT, the very concept of teaching itself must be adaptable to keep abreast with global developments and imperatives," she said.
Rafidah urged the government to refer to studies on educational proposals before acting.
Earlier, Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (Page) chairperson Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim told The Vibes that the hiring should be to address the shortage of teachers for certain subjects and not just for the sake of increasing manpower.
“There has always been a shortage of teachers, not in numbers, but in subject specialities. We hope that this recruitment of teachers will address the shortage in certain subjects.
“Also, the process of training new teachers should be strictly adhered to without compromise. High standards should be maintained at all times,” she said. - Mkini
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