860 teaching assistants to ease workload - Chong Sin Woon

To reduce the administrative workload of teachers, a total of 860 teaching assistants have been hired as daily temporary staff at schools in Melaka and Kedah this year.

Education Deputy Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon said the appointments were made under the Teaching Profession Enhancement Programme (PPG) through the National Blue Ocean Strategy initiative.

However, he said PPG's expansion to other states would depend on the government's financial ability.

"Other methods to ease the burden involve filling up vacant positions in schools, as well as reducing and simplifying data entry tasks," he said when replying to Datuk Noraini Ahmad (BN-Parit Sulong) at the Dewan Rakyat here today.

Noraini had asked whether teaching assistants were appointed in schools nationwide to reduce the teacher workload.

Chong said the ministry would also refine the operational method and school management to prioritise the student's overall learning experience by reducing non-teaching and non-learning activities in schools.

Replying to a supplementary question from Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR-Lembah Pantai) in relation to the complex data entry system, the deputy minister said the issue did not arise because of the effectiveness of the e-Operation application which was previously implemented.

-- BERNAMA