UEC grads can apply for teacher training
Published on: Sunday, February 23, 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: The Prime Minister has agreed to allow UEC graduates to continue to apply for training as teachers, Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching (pic) was quoted in Sin Chew Daily.
Teo told the daily that the move to reinstate the Bachelor of Education teacher training programme for UEC graduates (PISMP-UEC) comes in the wake of an uproar from education non-governmental organisations and politicians.
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“Yes, Tun has approved, ” she said in an interview. Apart from UEC graduates, those with a Sijil Menengah Agama and Sijil Menengah Ugama were also eligible to apply to train as teachers.
On Thursday, MCA secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon questioned why the PISMP-UEC programme, the only way for UEC graduates to enter public service, was scrapped.
According to Teo, teacher training institutes (IPGs) are targeting to recruit 6,000 trainees this year, of which 1,310 will be trained to teach in national-type Chinese primary schools (SJKCs).
However, Teo was mum on the issue of IPGs not recruiting Chinese language teachers this year.
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Quoting a source, the daily had previously highlighted that IPGs would not be recruiting Chinese-language teacher trainees this year, resulting in a backlash from groups such as Jiao Zong and the Chinese Language Council.
According to the source, the Education Ministry had adopted a new system of calculation which revealed that there were sufficient Chinese-language teachers in the country.
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The PISMP-UEC is a programme which was championed by former Deputy Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong and implemented in 2011.
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