‘Sudden trend’ of teachers quitting early worrying, says NUTP

 

NUTP says some teachers may be finding it tough to cope with increasing online teaching and learning demands.

PETALING JAYA: With the number of teachers opting to retire early increasing, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) is worried that the problem will become serious if nothing is done to stem the tide.

The union said that according to its estimates, more than 10,000 have been submitting their papers annually for early retirement over the last few years. This is in addition to the equal number of teachers who are leaving the service on mandatory retirement.

“We are not sure of the exact figures but we have asked the ministry for them. From our reports nationwide, some are in their early or mid-50s. This is a worrying trend because the nation is losing experienced teachers,” NUTP secretary-general Wang Heng Suan told FMT.

He admitted that the Covid-19 pandemic may have contributed to this trend with online teaching and learning as well as the increasing non-teaching responsibilities taking a toll on the teachers.

“They are finding it hard to cope,” he said.

Wang said poor internet connection also compounds the problem, stressing out teachers because it not only disrupts their teaching, but causes much anxiety, as some parents are piling on the pressure at the same time.

“Many of them say they are worried for their mental and physical health and they would rather hold tuition classes as that takes away the huge non-teaching burden, giving them a lot of time with their families,” he said.

He said replacing them with fresh graduates will not solve the problem overnight as it will take them a few years to fit into the system and become effective teachers.

The only solution that can resolve this problem is by having teaching assistants in school to reduce the workload of teachers that could make them remain in the teaching service, he said.

“The education ministry tried this in 2019 by hiring about 10,000 (teaching assistants) on a contract basis with pilot projects in Kedah, Sabah and Melaka. From our members’ feedback, it was highly successful. I believe it was stopped because of a lack of funds,” he said.

He said the ministry should seriously consider reimplementing it.

Last month, education minister Radzi Jidin had said the ministry was looking into the reasons why a high number of teachers were opting for early retirement.

“We will look into this matter thoroughly, not only from the number (of teachers), but other details as well. We will share the outcome on this matter later,” he said. - FMT