Ministry to reduce teaching load of discipline teachers

The Star

PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry is planning to reduce the number of periods discipline teachers have to teach per week.

The current job load ranges from 28 to 30 periods. The ministry wants to reduce this to 15 periods or fewer.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said discipline teachers must be given ample time to take on the added responsibilities.

“I do not think they can perform to the level expected of them if they are asked to do the same teaching periods as other teachers,” he told reporters after the ministry’s Hari Raya open house here yesterday.

No one, he added, would want to do the job because of the extra responsibilities.

“This is a thankless job because parents are not going to thank you. In some cases these teachers are also criticised when they call parents about their children’s behaviour as they would not admit to their weaknesses,” he said.

These teachers should also work closely with parent-teacher associations, he added.

Hishammuddin said the decision to reduce the number of teaching periods for discipline teachers was among several matters being discussed at a convention on student discipline in Kota Kinabalu.

The convention is jointly organised by the National Parents Consultative Group and the National Community and Family Development Board.

“I have asked my deputy Datuk Noh Omar to look into this,” Hishammuddin said.

Asked about a report on the absence of state education department officials at the convention, he said this was a serious matter and he wanted an explanation.