Education Minister II Idris Jusoh has been taken to task by several quarters in Sarawak for saying the state lacks qualified locals to deal with its shortage of teachers for schools.

Retired Language Department head of the Institute for Teachers Education (Sarawak Batu Lintang campus), Sanjan anak Daik, described the minister’s statement as ‘purely nonsense’.

Idris ( left ) had on Sunday said Sarawak needed 2,432 teachers to fill up vacant posts in schools in the state this year but there were only 601 locals who were qualified.

“If the Education Department is serious about giving equal opportunities for Sarawakians to become teachers, it should have ensured that the right number of locals are selected for training at the various teacher training institutions in the country,” said Sanjan, who is now political secretary to Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen.

“We believe that our local Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) graduates are as good as those from West Malaysia, if not better.

"Even though the Malaysia Education Blueprint previously stated only the top 30 percent of those passing SPM, and recently reduced this to the top 16 percent, are to be selected for teacher training, the ministry has been flexible on the entry requirement for locals.

“Thus, I don’t see any reason why the number of locals selected and trained cannot fill up these vacant posts,” Sanjan said yesterday.

Excess teachers 'dumped'

He noted that teachers who presently posted to Sarawak are those selected for training five to six years ago. As the selection was ‘improperly’ done, the ministry now says there are insufficient numbers of qualified locals to fill up the posts.

“Should proper selection have been done in those years, definitely there would be no question of a shortage of qualified locals now. I am sure this problem will continue in the coming years if no urgent step is taken to correct the situation,” he said.

“This alleged lack of qualified locals is a manifestation of the discriminatory policy of Putrajaya against Sarawak,” Sanjan added, accusing the federal government of dumping the excesss number of teachers from the peninsula in Sarawak, thus denying locals job opportunities in the field.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Land Development Minister James Masing ( right ) said the lack of qualified locals to teach at schools in Sarawak “was more a political than technical matter”.

What the federal leaders were saying, Masing opinied, was that there were not enough qualified Sarawakians with the minimum qualifications - such as SPM - to be  trained or retrained as teachers for Sarawak.

“I don’t believe that. I believe we have enough qualified people with SPM and graduates who are qualified to be trained as teachers in the teacher-training institutions.

“I believe the ministry's decision in the selection of teachers to be trained is more of a political decision than a technical decision,” Masing, who is the president of Parti Rakyat Sarawak, said.

Balanced intake needed

President of the Sarawak Teachers Union, Jisin Nyud, in a similar reaction, called for a balanced intake of students into public universities and institutions that train teachers.

“There must be a balanced intake of students into such institutions, based on the demand for teachers in each state,” Jisin said.

He pointed out that some institutions trained an overwhelming number of teachers from one state but not all these teachers could be posted back home due to a lack of positions there.

If more Sarawakians were accepted to into these universities or institutions, then there would be no issue of a lack of qualified Sarawakians for teaching jobs in the state.

However, Jisin added, Sarawakian were not given the chance to enter these institutions.