Hopeful change for teacher transfer issue

THE final day for teachers who had requested to be transferred to their respective hometown states (via online application) for the January 2014 session has come and gone.

Like any other husband or wife who is living apart from his or her spouse, I am one of those who travels more than three hours on a weekly basis to be reunited with my family and to spend limited quality time together.

Based on the Teachers’ Transfer Analysis January 2014 session, which can be found on http://apps.moe.gov.my/epgo/index.cfm, more than 20,000 teachers applied for transfers.

The question is why are there so many teachers in Malaysia who have to live apart from their families to fulfil their duties as educators?

Proactive solutions need to be taken by the Education Ministry to solve this never-ending issue. One solution is to place teachers at schools that are nearby to the teachers’ latest address.

Although an ideal situation such as teaching in a school near to one’s home may not always be feasible, I am sure that if teachers were to be placed at schools within a 20 to 30km radius from their homes, they would be thankful as they can still live together as a normal family.

We should not use the duration of being apart from one’s family as an indicator for placement, irrespective if they are newly-weds or have been married for years.

To quote Deputy Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap, “The ministry will re-look into the policy. It is not suitable for married couples to live apart... I will support a request for any transfer made by a married teacher so that he or she could be with the spouse.”

Teachers spend more time with their students (our children) as compared to ourselves, especially if both parents are working.

If we want teachers to give the best to our children, we should also give teachers the opportunity to give their best to their own children by living with them and spending quality time together.

With fair and humane teachers’ transfer and placement decisions, I believe the education level in Malaysia will rise to greater heights and benefit the country’s development.

A HOPEFUL HUSBAND

Selangor