Youth are interested but hesitant to become teachers

There is a high number of applications for teaching job openings and for teacher training courses and education degree programmes, say educationists. – 123rf.com

WITH the high number of teachers retiring early and a reported increase of applications for early retirement from schools, there is a growing worry about a possible shortage of teachers in the future.

The good news is, say educationists, there are no indications that there is a serious decline of interest in teaching among the young.

This is based on the high number of applications for teaching job openings and for teacher training courses and education degree programmes.

As National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) president Aminuddin Awang points out, the number of young people applying to fill any teacher vacancies under the Education Ministry far exceeds the requirement.

“For example, when the Education Ministry opened an application for a special one-off intake of grade DG41 teachers last year, the number of applicants was double the requirement of 18,702 people.”

Similarly, he adds, the number of applications for admission of young people to the Institutes of Teacher Education (IPG) in the country for the Bachelor of Teaching programmes (PISMP) is higher than the required number.

In this case, the interest of young people to become teachers has not declined, he notes.

“We should not associate the number of experienced teachers retiring early with the interest of young people to become teachers. Their problems are not the same. So, there are no issues or problems for the government to fill the posts for any teacher vacancies,” he says.

Aminuddin believes the education field will appeal to the Gen Z youth as it is now becoming more digitalised.

“If we look at the content of teaching courses at IPG or in universities, we find that students are exposed to management and application of educational technology for teaching and learning in schools in the future.

“One of the factors many teachers are retiring early now is that they have not mastered information and communication technology and are struggling to cope with the current demands of online learning,” he highlights.

“Now teachers need to use various online systems and programmes as well as various social media applications in their teaching.

“The high dependence of education on technology can pique the interest of young people in the teaching profession and will attract more youth to become teachers.”

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In addition, to make the teaching profession continue to be an attraction for the young in the future, efforts need to be made now by the government to put teachers on the right track, he says.

“Teachers need to be given priority by the government. Reduce assignments that have nothing to do with teacher responsibilities and provide teacher assistants for clerical work immediately.”

Concurring, Kamarozaman Abd Razak urges the ministry to seriously consider re-implementing the teacher assistant programme to reduce the workload of teachers in school.

This can make them remain in the teaching service and paint a better picture of the profession for the young, says the former NUTP chief.

“The Education Ministry tried this in 2019 with with pilot projects in Kedah, Sabah and Melaka, but it was stopped because of a lack of funds,” he says.

Although the situation is not yet dire – data shows there is a high demand for teaching and teacher training positions – Kamarozaman says more also needs to be done to retain teachers in service while making teaching an attractive career prospect for the future.

“A simple way is to just give teachers more time and autonomy to teach. Let them plan their lessons accordingly. The ministry and other officials need to have more faith in our teachers’ abilities, especially after all the training they’ve received,” he says.

Freeing teachers from their non-teaching responsibilities will also give them more time to nurture and bond with their students. This will help teachers gain more respect from students, which in turn might inspire them to go into the profession themselves.

“These days, most students don’t have a close relationship with their teachers because the teachers are too busy with outside classroom responsibilities. They don’t have time to nurture them and provide pastoral care for their students such as giving advice and instilling moral values,” he says.

Improve teaching conditions and teachers' status

Noble profession: The best way to attract more young people into the teaching profession is for teachers to be good role models for their students. – 123rf.com

Assoc Prof Dr Norliza Kushairi from the School of Education at Universiti Utara Malaysia also feels that the interest among young people to become teachers has never really declined.

“Instead, with the rise of graduate unemployment, the teaching profession has become a preferable course opted by young people,” she observes.

“This is partly encouraged by the parents’ awareness on the stability and security of teaching profession compared to other jobs.”

Other than the security and guarantee from the ministry on teaching career’s stability, the interest among young people can also contributed to the initiatives by the ministry in promoting teaching as “kerjaya pilihan” (first choice career) and not “kerjaya terakhir” (last choice career), she adds.

The best way to attract more young people into the teaching profession is for teachers to be good role models for their students, she says.

“Teachers while teaching should promote the culture of ‘tabligh’ (delivering knowledge) as part of the human responsibility... The young generation may not be aware of this noble and sacred intention of being a teacher.”

Dr Norliza adds that other strategies include increasing the partnership between schools, universities, the corporate sector and NGOs to collaborate in sustainable joint projects/programme (as opposed to one-off programmes) to keep promoting teaching as fun and interesting.

Another is strengthening the support system as teachers have lamented about their heavy workload and non-teaching burdens.

“I personally think that many teachers are passionate in their job but their wellbeing is not being properly taken care of,” Dr Norliza notes.

Dr Shanina Sharatol Ahmad Shah, a senior lecturer at the Department of Language and Literacy Education at Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Education, also says that the numbers are there to show that teaching per se is still a popular field among youth.

“If we look at the trend in the number of applications for the teaching degree programmes at this faculty, there is a gradual increase in the number of applications and intakes.

“This means, the teaching programmes offered at the faculty are still very much in demand and relevant for the industry.”

However, she warns, although there are still a few who are really passionate about teaching and are eager to become teachers, there are more who are quite hesitant to take up a career in teaching in government schools when they graduate.

“The bachelor of education degree programmes offered at our faculty are open market programmes, which means graduates are not guaranteed a job under the Education Ministry.

“They have the options of pursuing a career in teaching anywhere they wish for or in other related fields. This attracts school leavers or applicants to take up the degree in teaching for the sake of getting a degree, regardless of whether they intend to teach or not after graduating or whether they have a genuine passion for teaching.”

Some, she says, look for other non-teaching jobs as soon as they they graduate, while others go on to further their studies in order become lecturers at tertiary institutions. A few who are interested in teaching choose to apply for teaching jobs at private schools.

“They feel that they would have more freedom if they teach at private schools, colleges, universities, tuition centres and so on.

“Many are reluctant to teach in public schools due to the fear of facing high expectations as a teacher, heavy workload and unnecessary administrative duties, among others, “ she says.

Dr Shanina attributes this phenomenon to how the teaching profession is viewed now.

“Teaching is not held high in regards as it was many years ago. Our society demands for better public education, however, some of the demands are just unrealistic.

“The teachers’ roles keep expanding and the teaching-related and non-teaching related workload keep increasing. As a result, the attrition rate among teachers is very high where many opted out of teaching. The newly graduated teachers choose not to even begin or pursue a career in teaching,” she notes.

To make teaching more attractive to young generations, Dr Shanina says that we need to improve the status of teaching.

“The teachers’ self-image and the image of their work need to be improved as they are role models to the future generations.

“The status of teaching can also be improved by building stronger links between schools and the community. The media could also play a very important role in enhancing the good image of the teaching profession,” she says.

Another important way to attract young people into this profession is to improve teachers’ salary and employment conditions, she adds.

“This means considering larger salary increases and providing flexible working conditions such as sabbatical leave, extended leave without pay and job exchanges with industry,” she says.

Finally, teacher training programmes could offer students pursuing teaching qualification more teaching practice opportunities in schools to develop the necessary skills in teaching, says Dr Shanina.

This will give them the opportunity to gain more confidence to teach and manage a classroom, she says.

“Induction and support programmes for novice teachers would be helpful to ensure their first few years of survival in the school environment. Ultimately, improving the school infrastructure will improve the teaching and learning conditions in schools,” she notes.