Teachers required to serve in areas far from their hometowns

HULU SELANGOR: Being transferred to another school is one of the service criteria for teachers and they must accept it when told to move, said Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong.
He said it was compulsory for every teacher to serve in areas far from their hometowns for a certain period.

“They cannot serve next to their houses all the time until their retirement,” he told reporters after visiting SRJK (C) Bukit Tangga near here yesterday.
Dr Wee was responding to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement that the Education Ministry was embarking on an exercise to transfer English language teachers to overcome shortage.
Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said that currently, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur had a large number of English language teachers and some of them were not even teaching the language as they had refused to be transferred.
“It is high time teachers changed their mindset. Children in rural areas should not be deprived of quality education,” Dr Wee said.
Last year, the Education Depart­ment received close to 11,000 applications for transfer but only about 4,000 were approved.
“We cannot entertain all. There must be a balance,” he added.
Citing an example, Dr Wee said only 120 teachers applied to be transferred out of Kelantan while some 2,200 wanted to be transferred back to the state.
“Many schools in rural areas really need English language teachers. How are we going to meet the demand?” he asked.
Dr Wee said the department would look into the teachers’ appeals on a case-by-case basis and would give priority to those with health problems.
He added that the Government also had allocations for hardship and transport allowances for those posted to rural areas.
In another development, Dr Wee asked the 1,950 first batch of degree holders from teacher training colleges to be patient before they could start work as degree qualifiers.
He said the ministry was in the midst of resolving the issue with other agencies such as the Education Service Commission, Malaysia Qualifications Agency and Public Service Department. He said the Government had on 2008 amended the Education Act 1996 to allow courses in teacher training colleges to be upgraded to degree level.