BM, English teachers top the list of optional retirements

 

Close to 2,900 Bahasa Malaysia teachers and more than 1,100 English teachers opted for retirement in the past two years, the education ministry said.

PETALING JAYA: Bahasa Malaysia and English teachers top the list of those in the education service who chose to retire in the past two years, the education ministry said.

In a written parliamentary reply today, education minister Fadhlina Sidek said more than 6,000 officers in the education service applied for optional retirement.

Optional retirement is available at the age of 50 to those in government service who were appointed after 1991. The age of compulsory retirement varies between 55 and 60.

In her reply, Fadhlina said: “Based on our records, the number of education officers who applied for optional retirement based on six disciplines are as follows:

Bahasa Malaysia (2,862), English (1,146), Mathematics (1,015), Islamic studies (755), Science (629) and History (483).”

Fadhlina was replying to Jasin MP Zulkifli Ismail who asked for statistics on optional retirement in the education service from 2021 to 2022.

Education officers include teachers in government schools and lecturers at polytechnic and community colleges.

In April this year, the National Union of the Teaching Profession said more teachers are opting to retire early, with more than 10,000 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 at the compulsory retirement age.

Responding to another question by Radzi Jidin (PN-Putrajaya) on the status of hiring new teachers this year, Fadhlina said 22,327 have been hired up to January 2023 for various subjects.

“Several specialisations were given attention, among them are English, Bahasa Malaysia, Islamic studies, Mathematics and History,” she said in her written reply. - FMT