KOTA KINABALU: The state has many graduates waiting to be hired as teachers, says the Sabah Government Teachers Union.
Its president Mohd Kifflee Alli said this can help solve the teacher shortage problem for the state.
He said graduates from teachers institutions and public universities should be able to fulfil the requirements as teachers in Sabah, and they were qualified to serve in the education sector.
"The issue of teacher shortage is easily solvable. The Federal Government just needs to hire our graduates here in Sabah," he said in a press conference here Wednesday (Feb 8).
Kifflee said there was no reason why the option was to keep hiring teachers from other states to send to Sabah, when in fact that would cost more for the government in terms of allowance and other payments to serve here.
"If Sabahans are hired to work here, be it as contract teachers or permanent staff, it would cost less for the government and at the same time, address shortages of teachers for the state," he said.
He said based on data gathered by the union recently, there were a total of 111 people who wanted to apply as teachers whereas 74 others had already sent in applications for contract of service (COS) in 2021, but had yet to be called in for an interview.
"We also hope that existing teachers serving under the COS will be hired as permanent staff as long as they have the required qualifications," said Kifflee.
He said many had chosen to leave the state or the country in search of jobs after waiting too long to be hired locally.
According to the 2020 Human Resources Ministry statistics, a total of 45,900 Sabahans had gone out of the country in search of jobs, said Kifflee.
"This is causing a serious brain drain problem for us in Sabah," he said.
