Nonsensical policies, pressure forcing teachers into early retirement; expert says

Nonsensical policies, pressure forcing teachers into early retirement; expert says




ON April 18, the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) raised alarm over soaring numbers of teachers opting for early retirement.

Its secretary general Wang Heng Suan said that about 10,000 teachers apply for early retirement yearly, which is shockingly equivalent to the number who are falling under mandatory retirement.


“We have requested the Education Ministry to give us the exact details. From our survey, most who are seeking early retirement are either still young or in their mid-50s.


“The trend is worrying because we are losing experienced teachers,” Free Malaysia Today reported him as saying.


Asked on the situation, Arunachala Research & Consultancy Sdn Bhd principal consultant R Paneir Selvam queried said the problem was multi-layered and needed MOE’s immediate intervention.


“If I were to sum up the problem, it arose due to MOE’s flip-flop in their policies, which is forcing teachers away from teaching and turning them into administrative clerks,” he told FocusM.

Elaborating further, Paneir Selvam said that the problem of teachers opting for early retirement was nothing now and it has been happening for years.

“People have this idea that teachers are living a good life as their work hours are shorter and get to enjoy holidays during school breaks, which is a myth.

“The reality is, teachers are getting bogged down with a lot of unnecessary paper works that they work late into the nights and even through weekends.

R Paneir Selvam

“On top of that, they are now required to teach online with little support provided and asked to attend meetings on weekends and during holidays,” he mentioned.

All the pressure, Paneir Selvam added, was taking a toll on the teachers’ mental health and their family relationship.

He explained that when people opted to become teachers, it was usually because they are passionate about teaching and wanted to engage students in terms of teaching and learning.

“But our education policies have taken away the teaching part from teachers, which is the very reason they chose the profession in the first place.

“In the process, they become administrators. It’s taking a toll on their health and family ties…with some even getting divorced due to excessive pressure,” Paneir Selvam lamented.

On what caused the problem, the academic said that most of Malaysia’s education policies are drafted by those who have little teaching experience.

For starters, he explained, a number of those drafting policies at the MOE are administrative and diplomatic (PTD) officers, which was why their surveys usually lacked depth.

“These people will go to schools and conduct short surveys and assess reports made by others, which don’t give a clear picture because they are not really doing groundwork.

“And when they do speak to students and teachers to get insights, the latter are usually speak using “prepared scripts’, which is arranged in a way to paint a rosy picture of whatever is happening so as to please the officers,” Paneir Selvam noted.

Compounding to the problem is when policy makers get sent on study tours abroad, where they get excited on programmes implemented in foreign countries and would hastily apply it in Malaysia without considering local issues.

“For example, when the Integrated Primary School Curriculum (KBSR) and Integrated Secondary School Curriculum (KBSM) was adopted here, there was little study done on its effectiveness. Were teachers, students and the Parent-Teachers Association consulted?

“Policy makers must understand that just because something works in other countries, it doesn’t mean it would prove the same here. Malaysia has different environment, culture and socio-economic challenges which require us to localise it.”



Return teachers to their original task

Citing Singapore as an example, Paneir Selvam said that the island state did not make any significant changes to its education policy since 1965.

“They just improve on its existing structure to keep up with the times without touching its fundamentals.

“As a result, they are now producing world class school leavers and have prestigious universities like Singapore Management University and National University of Singapore (NUS).

“In Malaysia, since Merdeka, our education policies change every time a new politician becomes the education minister.

“Not only do they meddle in policies but they also rewire the very foundation of our education system, leaving students, teachers and administrators confused,” he quipped.

Offering solutions, Paneir Selvam urged the MOE to first conduct a transparent survey on how the current education policies are affecting teachers; be it health and their family ties.

Secondly, he said the authorities should overhaul the education system to meet two objectives; one is to ensure that policies are in tandem with future needs of students and the other is to return teachers to their primary task, which is to teach and nurture the younger generation.

“At present, there is a huge gap between what is being taught and what is needed for our students’ future.

“Plus, the constant policy changes are adding too much pressure on the teachers and students alike. People should not blame the teachers for unable to cope with the pressure as it is getting out of hand,” Paneir Selvam concluded. – April 26, 2022