600 to attend holiday teacher-training programme

Compiled by C. ARUNO and XIAO TONG

SOME 600 temporary teachers sent to serve at national and Chinese schools in 2020 have been selected to attend the one-year holiday teacher-training programme (Program Diploma Perguruan Malaysia-Kursus Dalam Cuti) next month, reports Sin Chew Daily.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon was quoted as saying that candidates will be able to find out details on the courses and teacher training college via https://pismp.moe.gov.my/myTAWAR. “The holiday teacher training programme is open not only to temporary teachers at Chinese vernacular schools but also those at national schools. We made the arrangements after considering the number of teachers and subjects they will be taking before announcing it, ” Dr Mah said on Tuesday.

It was earlier reported that the ministry planned to invite 500 temporary teachers to attend the holiday teacher-training programme in a bid to address the shortage of teachers at SJKCs.

The programme has since been shortened from 18 months to a 12-month course, with candidates trained to be qualified teachers.

Dr Mah said candidates should report themselves online on June 4 and complete the submission of their personal documents by June 11.

The course will begin on June 6 during the two-week school holiday, he added.

> A sundry shop operator in Penang kept his business open to quell speculation that he could have contracted Covid-19, the daily also reported.

“These days rumours can be detrimental. If I do not open for business, I’m afraid talk will spread that I’ve caught Covid-19 or have been quarantined, ” said Lin Jia Wei, whose shop is near the Jelutong market.

The market was ordered to temporarily shut on Monday after several traders contracted the coronavirus.

Even though businesses nearby were allowed to continue, most operators chose to close temporarily.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.