KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 (Bernama) — The Ministry of Education (MOE) will make an announcement regarding the recruitment of new teachers soon, said Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek.

According to her, it is an ongoing effort and commitment of the ministry to address the issue of teacher shortage in the country.

“I don’t think it’s a problem that can’t be dealt with because in terms of our planning and projections, it’s proceeding very well. It's the same for the entry of teachers whom we train to fill every vacancy.

“It is not a matter that cannot be resolved, except that we must take into account SBP (fully residential schools) so that it can give us a more accurate projection and the vacancies can then be filled immediately," she said.

She said this at the Majlis Iftar Si Burung Kecil and Ramah Mesra with Media Practitioners breaking of the fast event at the Seri Bintang Complex at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Seri Bintang Utara here today.

On March 27, Fadhlina was reported as saying said that MOE had appointed 20,171 new teachers on a permanent and contract basis to overcome the issue of teacher shortage in schools last year.

According to her, it was the highest achievement ever recorded by MOE within a year.

Regarding today’s ceremony, Fadhlina said the concept of iftar is very important because it is closely related to the programme that gives encouragement to young children who are practising fasting.

“Besides that, this is a programme to give praise to the month of Ramadan because these young children will put on performances akin to what the MOE emphasises, including the appreciation of Hadith 40, and solidarity with Palestine, which we are consistently upholding,” she said.

Today’s event was organised by the ministry collaboration with Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) and FGV Holdings Berhad (FGV).

— BERNAMA