TEACHERS are in short supply in private kindergartens, which are finding it hard to get qualified candidates. And when they do find them, they are unable to pay them.

Penang social development and non-Islamic religious affairs exco Chong Eng said many kindergartens in the state cannot afford to even offer teachers the minimum wage of RM1,500.

Malaysian Kindergarten Teachers Association national president Sally Ng told The Malaysian Insight the problem is not confined to Penang.

Nearly every state in the country is short of kindergartens teachers, she said.

Ng said to be a kindergarten teacher, the person must have at least a diploma in early childhood education.

“How many young people who are interested in the job have such a qualification? Secondly, how many people with such a qualification would be interested in taking up the job when they cannot even receive a basic wage?”

She said most kindergartens also have a nursery that opens till late in the afternoon to cater for children whose parents are working.

“The long working hours are unattractive to the young teacher,” she said.

“To top it off, working with children is stressful and they sometimes have to deal with fussy parents.”

Unless the kindergarten is located outside the city and where rent is cheap, it cannot afford to pay the minimum basic wage, Ng said.

“But then how many young city folk are satisfied with a RM1,500 salary? It is not enough to make ends meet in the city.”

To attract teachers in the city, some kindergartens offer a salary of between RM1,800 and RM2,800, she said.

That is still not good enough.

Kedah and Perlis Kindergarten Teachers’ Association president Woon Pek Poon said many new teachers do not last more than two weeks.

“The job is too stressful. After a week or two, they’re gone,” Woon said.

“They’ve told me that it’s better to work as a sales assistant in the mall than to be a kindergarten teacher.”

Woon said there are about 500 kindergartens in Kedah and the majority have difficulty recruiting teachers, who want to be paid more.

“They want RM1,500 to work half a day but the kindergartens are only willing to pay RM700 to RM800.”

Perak Kindergarten Teachers Association president Lydia Looi said the teacher shortage has forced the closure of several kindergartens in the state.

She said one kindergarten is closed every month.

“They may have pupils. But they have no teachers.”

Looi said the main problem is the minimum wage.

“The industry has been hit hard by the RM1,500 minimum salary. Kindergartens only open half a day. How to pay the minimum salary?”

She said the association had tried to negotiate with the authorities for an exemption on the minimum salary because the teachers only work half-day.

But that would mean that the pay would be even more unattractive.

“IA graduate with a professional diploma attends the interview only to be told that he would only be working for half a day and would not be paid RM1,500. Would he accept the job?”

Ng, who is also Penang Kindergarten Teachers Association president, said the only solution is to cut down the number of pupils.

“If we can’t find teachers, then we should not take in too many pupils.”

She said a study is ongoing to find a solution to the teacher shortage.

A way to get more teachers is to encourage secondary school graduate to become teachers.

“We have seminars in schools to get Form 5 students to know more about opportunities in early childhood education.”

“Working in a kindergarten might be hard but after accumulating enough experience, early childhood education (ECE) graduates can eventually develop a career as lecturers in universities or assist publishers in designing ECE materials and curricula.” – March 22, 2023.