Teachers’ wish list

IT’S Teachers Day tomorrow and some teachers have expressed their wishes for simple changes to improve the system they work in – they want their voices to be heard, for redundant paperwork to be reduced and for more teaching time.

The burden of paperwork and non-teaching duties, among other issues, are taking a toll on many of them, resulting in teachers opting to retire early.

The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-¬general Wang Heng Suan told StarEdu that of the 10,000 applications for early retirement annually, almost 5,000 are approved.

While the union does not have the exact figures, Wang said based on the feedback they have been receiving, there has been an increase in applications for early retirement over the last two years.

Although an English and Physical and Health Education (PJK) teacher who only wanted to be known as Jamilah is in the process of submitting her papers, she hopes a better system will be in place for younger educators, and her colleagues who are still in service.

“Clerical and assistant work, as well as unnecessary paperwork should either be reduced or stopped completely.“Also, implement clear-cut directives stating that administrators are not allowed to make teachers their personal assistants.

“Such tasks should be given to non-teaching staff or be done by the administrators themselves.

“On top of all our tasks, schoolteachers are often ‘borrowed’ by state and district education offices for various duties, such as invigilating exams.

“This further affects our core job in school. Instead, retired teachers, for example, could be hired on a contract basis to invigilate exams,” said Jamilah, who teaches at a secondary school in Selangor.

A Malaysian University English Test (MUET) teacher who only wanted to be known as Jyothi hopes for better support.

She said teachers lack support and there isn’t clear synchronisation between the Education Ministry’s announcements and what educational offices and departments instruct teachers to do.

“Having support, whether it’s from the administrators or from our own colleagues, isn’t sufficient.“Everyone only talks about what they want to achieve individually but what about the establishment as a whole?

“And where paperwork and documentation is concerned, everything is done through our own money and gadgets, from laptops and printing paper to printers,” she added.

Jyothi also explained that there should be less micromanaging and more faith in teachers.

If an official is unsatisfied with a teacher’s performance, she said, it should be addressed with the particular teacher instead of micromanaging all teachers as a result.

Another MUET teacher said administrators need to listen to teachers more and to act upon teachers’ feedback.

Only wanting to be known as Fatimah, the teacher said educators should be met halfway.

On April 21, The Star highlighted that some of the reasons teachers are opting to retire early include personal, medical and workplace reasons, as well as wanting to take it easy after more than three decades of service.

During a breaking fast event with the media on April 25, minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said while the data the ministry was looking into revealed that the number of teachers opting to retire early has been consistent since 2017, it is digging deeper to understand why teachers are opting out early.

At another event, he explained that the ministry would study this issue on a case-by-case basis and the actions that could be taken on the matter.

“We are studying in more depth by taking into account the data from 2017 again.

“This is because those in any other services would have also decided to opt for early retirement as it is their choice,” he said at the Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house at his residence near Ketereh, Kelantan, on May 5.

Even if the number of teachers opting to retire early has been consistent over the last five years, the reasons behind why they are opting out early, such as burnout and being pulled away from doing their core job of teaching, shouldn’t be overlooked.

Teachers are crucial in developing the next generation of leaders and so, more concerted efforts should be made to improve the ecosystem and job satisfaction to keep teachers in the profession.