Kota Kinabalu April 26, 2012: Teachers in Sabah have been cautioned against making any political statement that contradicts their position as a civil servant and steers them away from discharging duties entrusted to them.
State Education Director, Datuk Dr Muhiddin Yusin said he had personally received complaints that some teachers were involved in political activities and attacking the policy of the government in view of the looming general elections.
The complaints received were verbal and there might be some truth in it, he said, adding that there were also teachers who were posting political statements on Facebook or blogs, which could be misinterpreted by the people.
"I want these teachers to stop it because it is only disturbing them from carrying out their duty, that is to teach school children É it is unbecoming," he said when met after opening the Sabah Secondary School Principals 36th Conference at Promenade Hotel here Wednesday.
Earlier in his speech, Dr Muhiddin advised principals to look after the teachers under their care who might be "doing things outside their work scope."
Furthermore, he said it is clearly spelt out in the Chapter D of the General Order that public service personnel including teachers are not allowed to take part in politics unless with written permission from the Director-General of the Public Service Department or respective Ministry.
As the head of the department, he said he had to take action against those found breaching the order.
"Either during work or not they are not allowed to do so," he said to a question. Dr Muhiddin reminded the teachers that they were making statements based on their opinion and it might be different from others, which in the end would only create confusion among the public.
"At the same time the public may also start to question us because we are a public service personnel but we are criticising the government left and right," he said, adding that it would be worse if the statements were inclined towards any of the political parties. "It is not necessary to get involved in politics because the duty of a teacher is to teach É just teach the students," he said.
To a question, he said teachers should also avoid participating in rallies such as those planned by Bersih. "They will only be making it difficult for themselves if they get into trouble while participating in the gathering," said Dr Muhiddin.
On the issue of a primary school's teachers starting lesson only at 9am as mentioned by him in his speech, he said it was due to the teachers living far away from the school. He had stumbled upon the situation when he made an unannounced visit to a primary school while traveling back from Tawau to the State Capital recently. He said such situation was not serious in Sabah as it was only happening in isolated places, particularly in remote areas.
On the many challenges faced by principals in Sabah as voiced out by the Sabah Secondary School Principal Association President, Liasin Kaloh, Dr Muhiddin said it had already been noted and most of it required decisions from the Education Ministry.= "So we have forwarded the requests to the Ministry and we are now waiting for it," he said, adding that he was confident that it would be given due attention by the Ministry.
Another challenge, he said was the delivery system of the Education Ministry, particularly in the implementation of new programmes, as Sabah was always the last to get these.
Liasin said the other challenge for them was the issue of experienced teachers who have been teaching in a particular school for more than five years but who are suddenly transferred and replaced by freshly graduated teachers.
He said they were banking on these experienced teachers for a successful implementation of their school education plan.
Asked to comment on this, Dr Muhiddin said it was unintentional because at a certain point of time the teachers have to be transferred.
However, the Department and Ministry were continuously trying to find solutions particularly in getting more teachers, he said, agreeing that the situation may have something to do with Sabah's lukewarm performance in public examinations. A total of 218 principals and representatives including from Labuan took part in the three-day conference from Monday.
Teachers should ensure that their political involvement would not affect their teaching duty.
BalasPadamGuru2 yang terlalu berpolitik daripada menjalankan tanggungjawab sebagai pengajar wajar tukar profesion kepada ahli politik.
PadamAgree with the suggestion from Liasin that the government could consider to hand out petty cash for schools to make small repairs and other minor issues.
BalasPadamI think that's one of the common problems faced by the principals.
BalasPadamKebanyakan sekolah di bandar akan memugut derma daripada para pelajar dan ibu-bapa. Tetapi di pedalaman pula, kebanyakan keluarga miskin dan tidak mampu membuat derma untuk menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi di sekolah. Susah juga kalau macam ini.
PadamNamun ini merupakan satu masalah rakyat.
BalasPadamSo please make an effort to give allocation for them.
BalasPadamPeruntukan untuk masalah kecil patut diluluskan supaya mereka boleh mengatasi masalah seperti tanpa perlu membuat pemohonan terlebih dahulu.
PadamBagus juga kalau ada peruntukan untuk masalah2 kecil
PadamIt is not the teachers' faults.
BalasPadamPelajar Sabah juga pernah menunjukkan prestasi yang baik dalam peperiksaan awam seperti UPSR, PMR dan SPM. Jangan kata pelajar Sabah tidak cukup baik berbanding Semenanjung.
BalasPadamPelajar2 Sabah juga ramai yang cemerlang dalam pelajaran, kerajaan patut lengkapkan kemudahan di sekolah2 bahagian pedalaman supaya tidak ketinggalan dalam kemajuan
Padamusaha harus ditingkatkan agar prestasi pelajar akan jadi lebih cemerlang.
Padam"Liasin said the other challenge for them was the issue of experienced teachers who have been teaching in a particular school for more than five years but who are suddenly transferred and replaced by freshly graduated teachers"
BalasPadamPelajar2 yang jadi mangsa.
masih byk sekolah2 di Sabah yang memerlukan peruntukan untuk memperlengkapkan kemudahan terutama di pedalaman.
BalasPadamsekolah-sekolah yang memerlukan peruntukan haruslah diberikan bantuan.
PadamIsu ini harus diberi perhatian.
BalasPadamJika keadaan sekolah tidak selamat dan selesa, pelajar tidak akan dapat belajar dengan baik.
BalasPadampesekitaran sekolah yang selesa dan selamat akan menjadikan suasana pembelajaran lebih baik.
PadamBantuan harus disalurkan dengan segera.
BalasPadamSelain isu guru berpolitik, isu guru yang racist pun perlu diberi perhatian.
BalasPadamsetiap isu yang berlaku harus diberikan perhatian yang sewajarnya.
BalasPadamyang penting harus dipastikan guru dapat menjalankan tugas mereka dengan sebaiknya.
BalasPadamEducation is very important so are the places where students are taught.
BalasPadamThe government should do something about this, schools need help.
BalasPadamI hope something will be done, so it doesn’t affect the ways students are being taught and what they finally get to learn about the society.
BalasPadamWe should all support funding schools in one way or the other.
BalasPadamSupporting the school is not left alone to the government, we parents can equally contribute or assisting schools.
BalasPadamTidak ada salah guru-guru berpolitik rasanya. Yang penting mereka tahu akan tanggungjawab mereka sebagai tenaga pengajar.
BalasPadamtidak perlulah sekat suara guru2.. jika apa yang mereka katakan benar, cubalah nasihatkan kerajaan untuk memperbetulkan keadaan.. yang penting, tindakan mereka itu tidak mengganggu tugas mereka sebagai pendidik..
BalasPadam