KUCHING, May 24: Despite the increasing number of teachers in Malaysia opting for early retirement, only 0.004 per cent of teachers turnover were recorded in Sarawak.
In revealing this, State Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development, Datuk Roland Sagah Wee, said the figure is less than one percent.
“Within the last three years, the number of teachers opting for early retirement in Sarawak were 138 (2019), 164 (2020) and 188 (2021),” he disclosed.
Adding that there are three main reasons teachers in Sarawak opting for early retirement, namely health reasons, long-serving, and focusing on the family.
Sagah said any application for early retirement would be submitted to Ministry of Education (MOE) and Department of Public Service Malaysia for final decision.
“As education is under the purview of Federal Government which include the hiring and transfer of teachers, our hands are tied.
“However, we have put up several recommendations and proposals to the MOE to address the issue,” he said in his winding up speech of the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting, here, today.
He noted among the proposals that was taken up by MOE include the large scale one-off teacher recruitment in 2021.
He said through the initiative, 2,393 teachers were recruited for Sarawak, of which 766 were Sarawakians.
Earlier, Baleh assemblyman, Nicholas Kudi Jantai raised a question on the shortages of teachers in Sarawak to the August House. – TVS
