MOE must act now and address the issue of UPSI graduates who have yet to receive any placement in schools

As at May this year, some 460 qualified teachers were reported to have completed the 18-month programme, also known as DPLI-SR-SJKC (Diploma Perguruan Lepasan Ijazah – Sekolah Rendah – Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina). However, as at to date, these teachers have yet to be assigned to any school.

Aside from SJKC, DPLI programme is also being offered to those interested to teach in SJKT, SK, SMK and special education. Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) alone had around two thousand graduates this year who have yet to receive any placement in schools. The ever increasing number of qualified teachers yet to be assigned to schools by the Ministry of Education or Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Pelajaran is worrying and a waste of resources.

Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister of Education, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in launching the National Education Blueprint early September stated that placement in schools were not available for new teachers partly due to the new human resource policy of extending the retirement age to 60. The initial projection to train more teachers to fill the gaps left by these retired teachers is now a catch-22 situation.

MOE being the same vehicle that is implementing the DPLI programme in January 2012 as well as introducing the New Education Blueprint, has failed to ensure coherent and longer term planning.

In the delayed response from the Secretary-General of MOE, the Ministry is aiming to call for interview for these graduates by end of September. The concern is expected to be resolved by year end.

As we are approaching the end of September, there remains no news of the aforementioned interview on the MOE website. Officers in the relevant departments were also uninformed of the pledge made by the Secretary-General of MOE. These graduates were left in an abysmal state.

These teachers were bonded by a two-year service contract with the Government resulting in their job application to private sectors as a last resort being rejected. Majority of these teachers are in their 30s and have financial commitments that need to be addressed. They do not have the luxury to keeping waiting on the Ministry unfulfilled promises.

Thus, the Ministry must act now and address the issue. Immediate attention and resources are demanded for facilitating the interview and posting of these teachers. I further urge the Ministry to make available the statistics of the total number of DPLI graduates and the current vacancies in all schools. Such information is crucial for aligning the demand and supply gaps of teachers in the country and preventing similar situation in the future.

Teo Nie Ching DAP Assistant National Publicity Secretary & MP for Kulai