KUCHING: Personal and family commitments remain the biggest hurdles in persuading Sarawakian teachers serving outside the state to return home.
Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn acknowledged the growing call to resolve teacher shortages by bringing Sarawak-born teachers back.
He said the state is ready and willing to take them in, but real-life circumstances often stand in the way.
“It’s not because we don’t want to take them back. We would very much want to take them back,” he said after witnessing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing involving the Sarawak government, Sarawak Teachers’ Aspirations Organisation and Arc Technologies Sdn Bhd at Dewan Santapan, DUN Sarawak today.
However, many teachers posted in Malaya have built lives there, making relocation difficult.
“This is all about human nature. If they are married in Semenanjung, what will happen? Where will they go? These sorts of things,” he said.
Sagah added that while the state supports the initiative, it understands that teachers may have their own valid reasons for choosing to remain where they are.
“They have their own reasons,” he said, noting that the ministry remains open to facilitating returns where possible.
Earlier reports said Sarawak is not currently facing a shortage of teachers, especially after 1,434 new teachers were posted to the state in early November.
Sagah said the recent recruitment from teachers’ colleges will further strengthen staffing problems.
“Our schools have enough teachers in the sense that they are able to take up with the students and all this. Of course, we are hoping for new teachers to come in.
“On Nov 17, 1,434 new teachers were already posted. So don’t worry, the gap will be getting very much less. And these are all from the teachers’ colleges. So they are real teachers in that sense, not on contract.
“Contract of service is those who want to apply for temporary teachers and go for training later on,” he said.
