THE Education Ministry is confident of the abilities of female discipline teachers in handling disciplinary problems in schools, says minister Mahdzir Khalid.

He said though there were more female teachers acting as discipline teachers these days, their performance and competency were on par with their male counterparts.

“If we look at the figures there is gender imbalance in the teaching profession as intake of female students into teacher (training) institutes has reached 70%.

“Nevertheless, I am confident that female teachers will be able to deal with the (disciplinary) problems despite having to face more challenges in schools categorised as ‘hotspots,’” he told reporters at a thanksgiving ceremony with Felda settlers at Felda Bukit Tembaga in Kuala Nerang today.

Also present was Kedah housing, local government, water supply, water resources and energy committee chairman Badrul Hisham Hashim.

Mahdzir added that the police, National Anti-Drugs Agency, parent-teacher associations and the local community were on hand to assist schools in addressing disciplinary issues.

Meanwhile, in urging the people to appreciate the harmony and peace achieved through Merdeka, Mahdzir said these were factors that had led to educational opportunities and contributed to Malaysia’s success. – Bernama, February 11, 2018.