KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 6,300 placements have been offered to Bachelor of Teaching degree programme candidates to address teacher shortages in government schools.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said these placements matched the Education Ministry's records on teacher shortage.
He said the placements were a shift from previous administrations' policies, which did not permit intake of teachers to consist solely of the degree programme's candidates.
"This year, the Teachers Education Institute has offered 6,300 slots for the Bachelor of Teaching degree programme (to address teacher shortages). Previously, candidates of this programme were not allowed to fill 100 per cent (of the teacher vacancies nationwide)," he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
"However, we have successfully secured candidates and made a 100 per cent offer this year, involving 6,300 individuals for all types of schools under the ministry, with placements already offered and assigned.
"This is crucial to ensure that when they graduate, the teacher shortage issue can be gradually resolved in the next five years."
Wong was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias (BN-Jelebu) on the unresolved teacher shortage.
Meanwhile, Wong said the Education Service Commission had agreed with the ministry's proposal to implement a special recruitment initiative for Sarawak this year, specifically to address the teacher shortage in the state.
He said the process, open to both education and non-education graduates, had already begun, with interviews in October and the results were expected to be announced early this month.
"Up to October 31, Sarawak had 43,334 job vacancies in schools, of which 41,221 were filled, leaving 2,113 vacancies, reflecting a 95.12 per cent teacher filling rate.
"The special recruitment in the state this year focuses on vacancies in subjects like English, Bahasa Melayu, Chinese, Islamic Studies and Physical Education.
"The number of positions filled will depend on candidates' success in the interviews.
"For 2024, the ministry projects 1,733 candidates under this initiative," he said in response to Datuk Ali Biju (PN-Saratok), who enquired about the ministry's short- and long-term plans for addressing Sarawak's teacher shortage.