While praising special teacher recruitment drive, Chong laments progress of state-owned international schools too slow

KUCHING (Aug 1): The Sarawak government’s special recruitment programme for teachers starting this month has been praised by Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen.

He called the initiative to address the teacher shortage by recruiting over 1,000 new teachers “a positive step”.

He stressed it is crucial to ensure that qualified and competent individuals are selected to fill these positions across 1,000 primary schools and over 200 secondary schools throughout Sarawak.

“The recruitment process has been slow, especially considering the presence of several (five Yayasan Sarawak) international schools in the state,” Chong told reporters during DAP’s Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) reward programme today.

He claimed DAP proposed the idea of state-run international schools in the State Legislative Assembly many years ago, suggesting the establishment of more pilot projects in Sarawak.

“However, progress has been delayed and the current pace is still too slow to have a significant impact on students,” he said.

He questioned why the proposal to recruit new teachers is only happening now.

“It is presumed that this recruitment drive is aimed at staffing the proposed international schools,” he claimed.

On the STPM reward programme, Chong said students who scored between 3.3 and 4.0 CGPA (cumulative grade point average) and reside within the parliamentary constituencies of Bandar Kuching or Stampin are qualified to register.

Students with a CGPA of between 3.9 and 4.0 will receive RM1,000, students with a CGPA of 3.7 to 3.89 will get RM800, CGPA of 3.5 to 3.69 will receive RM600, while those managing a CPGA of 3.3 to 3.49 will get RM500.

“This is the third consecutive year we have launched this programme, which has seen more than 200 applications being received last year,” said Chong.

He also said the programme is funded through constituency allocations.

Also present at the press conference were George Lam, special assistant to the Bandar Kuching MP, and Chong’s special assistant Jordan Soo.

Last Saturday, Deputy Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Annuar Rapaee said Yayasan Sarawak International Secondary School (YSISS) Sibu is expected to take in students in 2026.

YSISS Petra Jaya began operations in April 2022, while the other YSISS will be in Kuching (Semenggok), Bintulu, and Miri.