KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has allocated a total of RM48mil to address the shortage of teachers at schools across the country, the Dewan Rakyat heard.
Its deputy minister Teo Nie Ching said that the amount was an increase from RM40mil allocated last year for the purpose of hiring replacement teachers.
She said that the problem arose due to the imbalance between the vacancies and the number of graduates from Institute of Teacher Education Malaysia (IPGM).
"For instance, national schools this year needs about 6,000 teachers, but there are only 1,676 graduates from IPGM who will then be placed at various schools across the country by November.
"To address this issue, the ministry has taken the initiative to train interim teachers in February next year and we target that the number will be about 3,000 for national schools and 800 teachers for vernacular schools," she said in reply to a supplementary question from Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PH-Setiawangsa) during Question Time.
Nik Nazmi had asked the ministry to explain its move to empower interim teachers as an alternative to address the shortage problem.
She said the allocation this year would be used to hire a total of 21,656 replacement teachers.
"The ministry takes note that the hiring of replacement teachers are needed to ensure that learning and education can continue smoothly," she said.
"If there are other needs for an increase, it will be considered based on the ministry's financial position," she said.
