NILAI, 5 Sept 2008: The Education Ministry hopes to have a better composition of Malay and non-Malay teachers now that salaries are higher in national schools.
Deputy Education Minister Dr Wee Ka Siong said 30 years ago there were many non-Malay teachers in national schools but their numbers went down due to the pull of the private sector and business opportunities.
"The same situation was true of the gender composition where schools today have more female teachers and headmasters as more females applied," Wee told reporters after closing the 15th Annual General Meeting of the 2008 Education Conference of the Council of Heads of Secondary Schools Conforming Malaysia at Inti International University College here today.
He said today a graduate teacher could earn RM2,500 a month, about the same as a factory manager. Wee was responding to reporters’ questions that only 20.5% of primary and secondary schools in the country had non-Malay headmasters or principals.
He also clarified that the lower number of non-Malay headmasters did not mean the government was biased. Promotions were not based on skin-colour or race as career advancement of a teacher was solely down to excellence and based on merit, he added. – Bernama
