Sarawak faces shortage of 3,076 teachers

SARAWAK is facing a shortage of 3,076 teachers as of September 30 this year, however, the Ministry of Education has agreed to fill half of the vacancies by June next year.

Education, Innovation and Talent Development Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee said Sarawak needs another 2,257 teachers for primary schools and 819 teachers for secondary schools.

He said the shortage of 819 secondary school teachers will be resolved by February next year, while 752 teachers will be posted to the primary schools in Sarawak by June.

“This means, Sarawak will still need 1,505 primary teachers,” he said when replying to Kota Sentosa assemblyman Wilfred Yap during the Q&A session at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here today.

Dr Annuar said his ministry has proposed to offer contract of service, to recruit local non-teacher graduates to be employed in Sarawak, to overcome the long-standing issue.