EDUCATION Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the current shortage of teachers in Chinese and Tamil national type schools (SJKC and SJKT) was only temporary. 

Fadhlina said the ministry paid serious attention to the problems faced in all schools, and there were short-, medium- and long-term strategies in place to overcome those issues. 

According to her, this included appointments made through contracts of service, postgraduate diploma programmes in education, and teaching degree programmes (PISMP). 

“The requirement for new primary school teachers is planned based on vacancies according to options and teachers entering and exiting the system according to the options issued by the PISMP training and their recruitment is done continuously. 

“This is to fill vacancies in all types of schools involving all subject options including Chinese and Tamil,” she said in a statement today. 

The issue, she said, had been discussed in several sessions involving SJKC and SJKT throughout the year to ensure that the concerns of all stakeholders were addressed appropriately. 

Fadzlina added that the ministry, together with the Education Services Commission, always took proactive measures to ensure the issue of teacher shortages in all schools could be overcome. – Bernama, November 17, 2023.