Ministry to probe 'missing' bonuses

The Education Ministry has promised to investigate claims of temporary teachers not getting the bonuses as promised in Budget 2013.

Deputy Education Minister II P. Kamalanathan said that Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching, who brought up the issue in a press conference this morning, can pass him the details for him to check.

“I will check, if she passes me the details I will check for her,” said Kamalanathan, although he admitted that he was unsure if there has been “a lot” of such cases.

Earlier today, Teo highlighted the cases of three temporary teachers who claimed to have yet to receive a single sen despite the Government announcing a one-and-a-half months bonus for teachers during Budget 2013.

Teo had claimed that “thousands” of temporary teachers in her constituency were facing the same problem.

The three teachers, from Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Senai, were supposed to receive the bonus, on December 2012, January 2013 and Hari Raya this year.

However, they have not gotten anything, with the Education department officers giving no reason for the delay except asking the teachers to “just wait”.

According to a circular on the bonuses, those eligible for the bonus included those who worked full time, temporary and also contract officers.

Those eligible would get a month-and-a-half of bonus or RM1,500, whichever was higher.