JOHOR BARU: The mass transfer of over 130 teachers from about 10 Chinese schools in Pasir Gudang has been postponed indefinitely following a public backlash, especially from parents.
Johor education and information committee chairman Aznan Tamin said a meeting with the school boards, parent-teacher associations (PTAs) and headmasters of all the schools involved in the mass transfer will be held to discuss the matter further.
He said the meeting would also involve Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim, Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah and the four assemblymen under the two parliamentary constituencies where the schools are located.
“Hopefully, during the meeting, the Pasir Gudang District Education Office will be able to explain the redeployment of teachers,” Aznan said when contacted yesterday.
When asked to address a WhatsApp message that was received by some of the teachers, informing them that their transfers had been postponed by two days from Oct 7 until Oct 9, Aznan said the Johor Education Department had moved the transfer to a later date.
“The date will be announced again in the future,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chan San San, who is the board chairman of one of the schools involved in the mass transfer, SJKC Chien Chi, said school representatives have been verbally called to a meeting at the Pasir Gudang Education Office.
“We hope the Johor Education Department will provide a clear explanation about the mass transfer and be open to accepting our views as we represent the voice of parents and pupils.
“We have been receiving calls from parents who are concerned that the sudden large-scale transfer will disrupt their children’s lessons and academic performance. The reaction from parents of Year Six pupils was especially strong as they are worried that the new teachers will not know the pupil’s academic performance well enough to give a proper Academic Session Final Test (UASA) assessment,” she said.
UASA was introduced by the Education Ministry for Year Four to Year Six and Form One to Form Three in place of the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3) examinations.
Chan reiterated that the schools were not against the transfer of teachers, as it was a common practice among civil servants, but hoped that it could be postponed until after the end of the academic year.A 44-year-old parent whose daughter is studying at one of the schools involved in the large-scale transfer hoped the meeting would bring a positive outcome.
“We hope that the Education Department will consider our concerns as we only want the best for our children. We are not against the transfer of teachers, but at least let our pupils finish their academic year with the same teachers before implementing the move,” said the mother-of-two.
The Star reported that more than 130 teachers currently teaching at SJKC Johor Jaya, SJKC Pandan, SJKC Foon Yew 5, SJKC Chee Tong and SJKC Nam Heng received their letter of transfer on Tuesday. They were told to report to their new schools tomorrow (Oct 7).
School boards and parents spoke out against the matter, expressing concern that the sudden change would disrupt lessons and academic activities that had already been planned ahead of time.
Hassan reportedly wrote to the Johor Education Department director to request for a delay in the transfers, citing parents’ concerns that it might affect the pupils’ preparations for their examination.
On Thursday, Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said the ministry had also requested the state Education Department to address the matter following feedback from Johor assemblymen and parents regarding the issue.
