18,000 new teachers to address nationwide shortage in mass recruitment drive

Education Minister Radzi Jidin today announced that the Public Service Department has approved the mass recruitment of over 18,000 teachers as part of efforts to address the shortage of educators in the country.

Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, he said the ministry would collaborate with the Education Service Commission in the administration of the special recruitment programme.

“The special recruitment of teachers on this one-off basis is important to reduce the burden of teachers, especially in schools facing a critical shortage,” he said.

He added that it was also to ensure a sufficient number of teachers especially in Sarawak and Sabah.

He said it was also common that teachers were not assigned to teach the subjects for which they were trained.

“To rectify the mismatch problem, we will look at the candidates based on subject option cluster so that there will be no more mismatch of jobs against qualifications as the state moved towards industrialisation,” he said.

He also said the posting of teachers would be based on requirements for subjects that have fewer eligible teachers.

“The special intake will be advertised starting on July 7. The posting of the new teachers at schools will be conducted in phases starting in October this year.”