Lost in translation

Working together: Fadhlina (standing, middle) and Aminuddin (on her right) with NUTP members at the seminar. – ONG SOON HIN/The Star

THE Education Ministry must ensure that its message does not get lost in translation when it reaches teachers.

Calling on the ministry to prevent inaccurate instructions and information from being disseminated, National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) president Aminuddin Awang said communication must be clear.

“Inaccuracies occur when messages are delivered through the ministry’s agencies.

“This is an issue that needs to be addressed so that our teachers can carry out their professional duties uninterrupted,” he said at the launch of the NUTP seminar in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 3.

He said while the information from the ministry was simple and accurate, miscommunication occurred when the message was relayed to teachers via the state education departments and district education offices.

“When the information or instruction finally reaches teachers in schools, it would already be too complicated and burdening for us to carry out.

“Our Malaysian teachers are the best in their fields, but often times they are unable to manifest excellence in their work due to all these unnecessary distractions,” he said, adding that the NUTP seminar was held for teachers to get firsthand knowledge from ministry officials and to ensure teachers would always have access to verified information.

Aminuddin also called on the ministry to make good on the pledge of former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob last year.

On Oct 1, some 1,500 teachers nationwide attended a special gathering organised by the NUTP at the Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre where Ismail Sabri said teachers of grade DG48 would be allowed to be appointed assistant senior teachers; teachers from grades DG52 and DG54 would be included in nominations for excellent teacher posts; and grade DG48 headmasters would no longer have to be “downgraded” to senior assistants or ordinary teachers in primary schools once they had been promoted to DG52 and DG54 on a time-based excellence basis.

“Official letters on these announcements have yet to be issued so what was promised has yet to be implemented,” he said.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, who was present, assured participants that teacher welfare would always be among the ministry’s priority.

“At the ministry, we open our doors for teachers to freely express the concerns and issues that they experience and we will do our best to solve them,” she said in her speech.

Fadhlina also urged the union to be the ministry’s checks and balances, especially in relation to decisions that impacted them.