Group: Tuition clampdown too sudden

The Star

THE United Chinese School Teachers Association (Jiao Zong) is unhappy with the clampdown by the Education Ministry on teachers who also gave tuition to students.

Quoting Jiao Zong president Ong Chiow Chuan, Sin Chew Daily reported yesterday that the ministry should give teachers a time frame to register before taking action.

“The sudden action taken by the ministry has left parents and teachers in a bind,” he said, adding that the ministry’s move had affected pupils who were going to sit for the UPSR examination.

Ong, in urging teachers who wanted to continue giving tuition to register with the ministry, said that such activities should not affect their work at school.

National Union of the Teaching Profession secretary-general Loke Yim Pheng was also quoted by the daily as saying that the union would not be able to help teachers who were caught giving tuition without registering with the ministry.

“They should bear the responsibility themselves,” she said.

Quoting an unnamed tuition centre operator, the daily reported that teachers were beginning to give tuition in their homes to avoid detection.