New teachers advised not to apply for transfer too early - Mahdzir

Mahdzir said he received numerous requests from teachers who met him personally at the ministry or events to be relocated, even though they had been in the service for less than three years.

Although sympathetic, he said greater priority should be given to the teachers who had been separated from their spouses for a longer period.

"Sometimes these teachers had just been married for a year and want to be transferred nearer to their loved ones. They need to have the three-year mindset, it's easy for the ministry if we are all (thinking) the same," he told reporters after presenting scrolls at the Malaysian Teacher Training Institute convocation here on Sunday.

A total of 5,978 graduates will be receiving their degrees and diplomas at the eighth convocation of the institute starting today until Aug 30.

Mahdzir said the ministry was also unable to meet the demand of all teachers who wanted to serve in their hometown.

On the institute, he said about 5,000 of the total 5,978 graduates had been offered placement nationwide.