NUTP: Hire more teachers in state education depts

By HARIATI AZIZAN

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) is asking for more teachers to be given the opportunity to serve with state education departments that are being restructured.

“Teachers with expertise and interest in administration should be given some room for leadership training by working in the state departments. This will prepare them to be good principals or for administration work in the ministry later,” said NUTP secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng.

The union, she added, commended the restructuring but felt strongly that some discrepancies and issues needed to be addressed before it was implemented.

“At the NUTP mid-term review meeting recently, our members unanimously passed a resolution to support the restructuring of the state education departments as announced by the Education Minister but on the condition that the JPA (Public Services Department) will review the plan and make some amendments, especially on the issue of promotions for teachers to work in the ministry,” Lok told reporters at the NUTP office here yesterday.

This included appointing officers with teaching experience as heads of sectors, streamlining the grade levels for administrative posts and giving equal status to all the state education departments and their directors.

“Teachers should be allowed to manage themselves – they understand the profession better, they know what their needs are and they know the real situation. Also, in the new restructuring plan, different state departments have different status although they may be overseeing the same number of schools and some posts have different grade level requirement. This needs to be reviewed and standardised,” she said.

The restructuring of the state education departments is the first phase of the Education Ministry's effort at tightening and improving the efficiency of its administration.