SERIAN, Oct 14 — The Sarawak government has set aside RM6 million this year to train primary and secondary school teachers in the state who are involved in the teaching of Science, Mathematics and English even though they do not have expertise in these subjects.
Sarawak Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Datuk Amar Michael Manyin Jawong said today that the training needed to be carried out as there were many teachers in the state, especially in the rural areas, who had to teach these subjects although they did not have the basics.
“These teachers will undergo training for two months during the end of year semester break at four teachers’ training institutes (IPG) in the state,” he told reporters after launching the Serian District 2020 Education Leadership Colloquium here.
He said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg, who recently approved the allocation, is hopeful of a quick resolution to the problem of insufficient qualified teachers for these three subjects since it is one of the reasons behind the poor performance of Sarawak students in the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).
Manyin said experienced teachers would usually apply to move to schools in or near urban areas and they would be replaced by newly-graduated and inexperienced teachers in the rural areas and interiors.
On proposals to merge schools with small number of students in the state, he said this could not be implemented following objections by parents from the affected schools.
Meanwhile, he said that he had approved RM60,000 under his small rural project allocation for the purchase of seven digital boards to be distributed to six schools in the district, including SMK Serian, SMK Tebedu, SMK Tarat, SMK Ta-ee and SMK Balai Ringin. — Bernama
