BANGI: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says that teachers who are negligent, undisciplined, and perform poorly should be excluded from the time-based promotion privilege.
The Prime Minister explained that while the government accepts the principle of promotion on a time-based system, this facility would be revoked for teachers who are negligent and exhibit poor discipline.
"If the discipline of teachers is weak and they frequently miss school, I want to cancel their time-based promotions. We must be careful, but I believe 90% of them have no problem," he said during the golden jubilee celebration of the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) on Saturday (July 13).
Anwar recalled that when he was the education minister in the past, teachers were often blamed for issues such as children taking drugs, not studying well, and not being smart. However, teachers accepted this responsibility as part of their duties.
He said the teacher's job is to educate people so that there is an element of humanity in each of them, and each student must have love and affection for the teacher.
"I am grateful to Sekolah Cheruk Tok Kun, Bukit Mertajam Boys School, Malay College Kuala Kangsar, and Universiti Malaya (UM).
"I have never forgotten the contribution of teachers because, without them, besides my parents, it would not have been possible for me to gain a foothold in my career if I had not been instilled with that spirit," he said.
Therefore, Anwar emphasised that the welfare of teachers should be protected, and at the same time, changes should be made.
"Malaysia has the ability and capacity to raise the dignity of the nation and the country, to be a good model economically, politically, socially, and educationally because the basic strength is there.
"If you want to improve, you can't do it with a sluggish culture like now; you have to be firm," he said.
Anwar urged his detractors not to dispute his commitment to matters concerning Bahasa Kebangsaan as the official language and the national education policy.
However, he said there should be no obstacle to the development of Chinese, Tamil, Arabic, or other languages, and space should be given.
Anwar stated that to boost the country's economy, there is a need to place special emphasis on mastering the English language in the context of digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI).
"My instructions to the Education Ministry are not to delay, as there is a need for an immediate framework for the level of English proficiency so that the country can compete.
"At the same time, let's not belittle Malay language, mastery, and quality, which should be better now because of the capability of our children," he said.
On the Public Service Remuneration System (SSPA), Anwar said the scheme is one of the best ever announced by the government and hopes it will improve the services of civil servants and stop bad practices.
Although the plan received criticism from various quarters, it did not interfere with the government's commitment to implement it, considering that civil servants had not experienced a salary revision for 12 years.
Anwar said two NUTP proposals would be brought up for discussion: allowing assistant teachers in primary schools at grade DG48 to hold positions as senior assistants, and permitting head teachers who have been promoted to grade DG52 on a time-based basis to hold that position until grade DG54. – Bernama
Also present were Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, Public Service Department director-general Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz, Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, and NUTP president Aminuddin Awang.
