KUCHING, March 9 — The Ministry of Education (MoE) should not blame the newly recruited 222 teachers from peninsular Malaysia for rejecting the offer to serve in Sarawak, Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) president Bobby William said today.

He said they could have their own reasons for not accepting, such as preferring to serve in their home state.

"Even if they come, they would not give their level best and may ask to be transferred back to their home state after a few months or a year in Sarawak,” Bobby said when asked to respond to the failure by the 222 teachers to report for duties as of September last year.

"In the end, the students will suffer because of the lack of dedication of these teachers,” he said, adding that many of them could be posted to rural schools.

He said it was about time the MoE gave the priority to Sarawakians whose applications to be trained as teachers were not successful in the past.

"Sarawak is not lacking in talents, and they know the local situation and culture much better than those from other states,” he said, adding that he is sure that they will serve the profession to the best of their ability.

Bobby also called on the MoE to fill the state’s teachers’ training institutes with local applicants to take the place of teachers from peninsular Malaysia who want to go back to their home state after serving for a period in Sarawak.

He also urged the MoE to take in university graduates as temporary teachers as a short-term measure to fill the posts left vacant after the teachers from peninsular Malaysia failed to report for duty.

He said these university graduates should undergo a teacher training course during school holidays as a condition for permanent placement.

In a statement posted on the Parliament website on March 6, the MoE said a total of 222 of the 3,227 one-off specially recruited teachers, who were given placements in Sarawak, failed to report for duty or rejected the offer as of September 30 last year.

The MoE was replying to a question from Ahmad Johnie Zawawi (GPS-Igan) on the number of one-off and contract teachers who did not report for work or had rejected the offer to teach in Sarawak.

According to the ministry, Sarawak-born teachers are given priority to be placed in the state based on vacancies available and subject options requirements.