Nik Nazmi: Act against Pasti over low teacher pay, lack of protections

PARLIAMENT | A government backbencher has urged action against PAS-run pre-schools whose teachers are classified as “volunteers” and paid less than half the national minimum wage.

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (Harapan-Setiawangsa) noted that many Malaysians send their children to Pusat Asuhan Tunas Islam (Pasti) kindergartens because of their affordable fees, but close to 10,000 teachers receive only a RM600 allowance and are denied basic social protections.

“One of the attractions, aside from the claim of Islamic education, is the low cost.

“However, there are many complaints that Pasti does not comply with aspects of the syllabus and teacher remuneration,” said the former minister when debating the 13th Malaysia Plan.

He said that as of last year, there were 2,497 Pasti nationwide, with 9,539 teachers and 125,065 students - managed by a unit formed under the PAS Youth wing.

“They (teachers) are only paid an allowance of RM600 because they are deemed ‘volunteers’ rather than ‘employees’, which violates the National Wage Consultative Council Act.

“There are also no contributions to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Socso),” he added.

Nik Nazmi expressed hope that corrective measures could be taken by the Special Committee on Islamic Pre-school Education announced by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as part of the National Social Council.

Other allowances

According to Berita Harian, PAS lawmaker Syahir Che Sulaiman (PN-Bachok) argued that while the teachers’ “salaries” are low, they receive other allowances, including for teaching Iqra.

“I just want to clarify a bit about the Pasti teachers’ salary, which is said to be low because it’s voluntary work.

“They work four hours, which is very short, and in fact, many Pasti centres supplement this with other allowances such as for Iqra and similar activities,” he said.

“I just want to ask if Setiawangsa (Nik Nazmi) agrees that since Pasti does not use taxpayers’ funds, unlike Kemas, Education Ministry pre-schools, and National Unity Ministry kindergartens, it helps to reduce the government’s fiscal burden without using public tax money,” he added.

Earlier, Nik Nazmi welcomed the government’s plan to make pre-school compulsory at the age of five and to focus on providing facilities in rural areas.

He also suggested consolidating pre-school facilities provided by three different ministries - the Education Ministry, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, and the National Unity Ministry.

Reporting by Hariz Mohd, Qistina Nadia Dzulqarnain, Dania Kamal Aryf, Haspaizi Zain

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