New guidelines allow teacher transfer applications year round - Radzi

KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry (MOE) has prepared new guidelines for teacher transfer applications, which will be announced in the near future.

Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said the guidelines would replace the ministry's circular (Surat Pekeliling Ikhtisas) 1975, on guidelines for the transfer of teachers.

"In the new guidelines, we will introduce many improvements; among them is that we will allow teachers to submit applications for transfer throughout the year.

"Many more improvements will be implemented in the context of this teacher transfer issue, and the MOE will provide further clarification related to these new guidelines in the near future," he said in his latest video posted on his Facebook account today.

Acknowledging that the issue had dragged on for too long, Radzi said that the MOE had looked into the main points, as well as the improvements that would be made.

Radzi said that he had received many appeals from teachers pertaining to transfer applications for 2021, to be processed in line with the one-off recruitment of new teachers, which had been announced by the MOE previously.

"Indeed, that is the intention of the MOE, that before we place 18,702 new teachers from this one-off recruitment, we will try to facilitate as many transfer applications as possible for 2021," he said.

However, Radzi explained that there are several key factors that are taken into account in considering any application for transfer, including if there is a vacancy, and option requirements in the state applied for.

"These two things are the basic things taken into account by the ministry in considering any transfer application, because, let's say there are vacancies in the state but not in the relevant options, then the application is very difficult to consider.

"We are aware of the challenges faced by teachers in the context of applying for this transfer, and the ministry has examined the relevant matters thoroughly," he said.

Radzi said that the MOE was committed to looking after the welfare of teachers, and called on them to continue to give their best and work together to improve the quality of education in the country to produce a greater generation of Malaysians.

-- BERNAMA