All Chinese primary schools in Sabah are facing a shortage of Chinese-speaking teachers this school year. Other primary schools in the state and secondary schools, both Chinese and national, are facing a shortage of teachers as well.

According to William Chu, the chairman of the Sabah Chinese primary schools working committee, the shortfall is at least 100 teachers. If not for the dispatch of non-Chinese-speaking teachers to these schools, he said the shortfall would be even more.

There are also insufficient non-Chinese-speaking teachers for subjects like Malay, English and music.

chinese school srjkc jalan davidson Chu attributed the shortfall of Chinese-language teachers to their transfer to Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak and the State Education Department (SED) being slow to engage temporary teachers and extend the contracts of existing temporary teachers.

"In Peninsular Malaysia, they recruit temporary teachers and interview existing temporary teachers before the school year opens," said Chu.

Meanwhile, according to Chu, 30 local students of Chinese studies who recently graduated from the Gaya Teachers Training College in Kota Kinabalu have been left in the lurch.

They have not been informed whether they will serve the state or be sent to Peninsular Malaysia or Sarawak. Another 20 Chinese-language local students who graduated from a teacher's training college in peninsular Malaysia were sent to Sarawak, Chu added.

Chu also went on to express regret over the dispatch of non-Chinese-speaking teachers to some of the Chinese primary schools in Beaufort, Papar and Lahad Datu, among other districts.

"The Education Ministry should not assign too many non-Chinese-speaking teachers to Chinese schools as they could end up being redundant when the school cannot assign any class to them, " said Chu.

chinese school inconvenience 190104 petrol station Due to these concerns, some schools chose to turn the teachers away while others took them in reluctantly.

Chu claimed that the Education Ministry had in the past pledged that non-Chinese-speaking teachers would not be assigned at all to Year One to Three. For Year Four to Six, non-Chinese-speaking teachers would only be assigned for Malay, English and music subjects.

Chu has apparently brought up the matter with deputy education minister Wee Ka Siong who responded that there was nothing much he could do at this late juncture.

Wee said it was up to the SED to resolve the problem and that the schools concerned should contact him earlier the next time.

Among other matters that Chu had brought up with Wee was the additional expense schools had to bear in hiring temporary teachers to make up for shortfalls in staff.

He reportedly told Wee that Chinese educationists were troubled with the shortages of Chinese-speaking teachers not just in Sabah but other states as well, including Johor.

Purportedly, the thinking at the SED is that Chinese schools should not insist on non-Chinese-speaking teachers for subjects that don't need them.

Interior regions lack teachers

Newly-appointed state education director Muhiddin Yusin is not unmindful of the teacher shortage problem which has reportedly resulted in Sabah being in the lower rungs of academic performance in the country.

For example, none of the 20 high-performance schools in the country announced by Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin ( right ) last night, are from Sabah or Sarawak.

Muhiddin concedes that there is a shortage of teachers, especially experienced ones, especially in the interior regions of the state.

NONE He said it was due to about 500 to 800 teachers leaving the state every year for various reasons. Most of these were wives following husbands who were posted to Sabah for work, generally in Kota Kinabalu.

These teachers would then only be posted in locations within an hour's drive from the state capital.

Otherwise, non-Sabahan teachers are at present allowed to move back to their respective hometowns after serving five years in an urban school and three years in a rural school.

Not only was it difficult posting teachers to rural areas, Muhiddin lamented that urban schools were overflowing with teachers.

The gender imbalance among teachers presents additional problems. Most teachers were female and only willing to teach in rural areas if single. Once married, they request to be with their husbands.

Budget is another big headache for the SED. The operational budget for Sabah has been cut by the Education Ministry by 20 per cent to 40 per cent.

"We are caught in the middle," admits Muhiddin in one statement carried by local media. "We are viewed in a negative light. The SED is perceived as not fulfilling its obligation to schools."

The SED also comes across as not knowing how to execute its duties and inefficient in carrying out its responsibilities.

There are 1069 primary schools in Sabah, according to the SED, and this includes 92 listed as urban. There are 83 Chinese primary schools in the state.

Of the 208 secondary schools, only 54 are in urban areas. Many of the rural schools are sited on hill slopes, by the riverbanks and on remote islands and not easily reached by road. Many of them, according to the SED, are in dire need of repairs, upgrading, new classrooms and new buildings.