Salary hike for religious school teachers proposed

The Star

IPOH: The salary of over 35,000 religious school teachers will see an increase under a proposal that will be submitted to the Government when the economy improves.

Announcing a suggestion to increase the salary, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said:

“A paper on the proposal for a higher salary is ready for presentation to the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) or Finance Ministry.”

Zahid pointed out that the religious school teachers were getting a salary of RM500 a month.

This is below the poverty line of RM720 a month, he said Tuesday after presenting allowances and grants to religious school teachers in Perak.

The proposal to restructure the salary of the religious school teachers would formalise their pay scale, which was currently non-existent, he added.

On when the proposal would be submitted for the Government’s consideration, Zahid said:

“When I get an indication that the economy allows for a higher payout to religious school teachers.”

Currently, he said, some RM210mil was used to pay the salaries of religious school teachers in a year.

With the proposal, he said, the payout would come to some RM700mil.

This is not much when compared with the contribution of these teachers in educating the children, he said, adding that a lot of money had been spent on physical development instead of for spiritual development.