NIBONG TEBAL: The Madani government continues to demonstrate strong commitment in addressing teacher shortages, achieving a placement rate of over 98% for teacher positions nationwide, says Fadhlina Sidek.
The Education Minister said that less than 2% of teaching positions nationwide remain vacant, with a total of 53,000 teachers appointed since 2022 to meet schools' staffing needs.
"This reflects our commitment to ensuring that teacher placements are carried out diligently to address shortages. Now that the placement rate has reached 98%, I believe we must continue to step up our efforts to tackle teacher shortages from time to time," she said.
She spoke to reporters after attending the Madani Adopted School handover ceremony by the Public Service Commission (PSC) at SK Sungai Bakap here, officiated by PSC chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Jailani Muhamed Yunus.
Fadhlina, who is also Nibong Tebal MP, said teacher placements will be carried out promptly whenever vacancies occur to ensure schools do not face teacher shortages.
On the issue of newly-appointed teachers failing to report for duty following Monday's (Nov 17) placements, she said it is not considered serious as the number is small, adding that the matter is being closely monitored.
She said that the Education Ministry is gathering information to fully understand the issue, while pledging to address the underlying factors that may have prevented the teachers from reporting for duty.
"We need some time to gather all the information. There is no problem with them registering later, as the ministry still needs them. We hope the issue can be resolved quickly, given the urgent need for them at the assigned schools," she said.
On Tuesday (Nov 18), media reports cited that seven teachers recruited through the Sarawak Special Teacher Recruitment have resigned, while 51 others have yet to report for duty. - Bernama
