Malaysia - KL move to cut relief teachers' benefits dropped

Malaysia's Education Ministry has reversed its decision to cut the pay and benefits of relief teachers after a standoff that threatened to disrupt classes in the new school year.

Instead, relief teachers will continue to enjoy bonuses, employer contributions to their retirement savings scheme and school holiday pay, Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong announced on Monday.

The decision - made just two weeks before school reopens - averted a potential teacher boycott and a showdown with the powerful United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia, more commonly known as Dong Zong.

But the heated dispute, which has escalated over the last few weeks, has already stoked much unhappiness among the Chinese community, which has often griped about its Chinese schools and staff being unfairly treated.

Relief teachers in Malaysia are mostly made up of students waiting to enter university or the teacher's college, although there are also those who do relief teaching full-time.

Relief teachers in Chinese schools make up more than two-thirds of the 5,000-plus relief teachers here, according to figures released by the Education Ministry last year. About 20 per cent of Malaysian children - mostly ethnic Chinese - go to Chinese-medium schools.

Chinese relief teachers play an important role, partly because of a lack of qualified full-time Chinese teachers, as well as the increasing popularity of Chinese primary schools.

So when the ministry said last month that it was cutting benefits due to budgetary constraints, it created a swift uproar among the community.

Relief teachers, many of whom earn less than RM2,000 (US$630) a month, said this would cause them to lose a few hundred ringgit in income each month. Many refused to sign the new contracts.

Dong Zong threatened to hold a nationwide protest last week, before the authorities relented and reinstated the old terms.

But the damage may have already been done, with several Chinese newspaper editorials hitting out at civil servants for not understanding the ground sentiment.

An editorial in the China Press, referring to Prime Minister Najib Razak's national unity slogan, noted: "Government officials have not carried out the 1Malaysia slogan of 'People First, Performance Now'.

"It shows that, before implementing a policy, they do not fully understand the situation or get feedback from the people. This causes unnecessary trouble."

Dr Wee said the ministry was training more Chinese teachers, which would ease the need for relief teachers. He said the shortfall had narrowed from 3,700 people in 2008 to 2,800 people in 2009 and would drop further to 1,000 next year.

Teo Cheng Wee

The Straits Times

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