All 363 Sabah GSTTs To Be Absorbed As Permanent Teachers In Stages

KOTA KINABALU, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- All 363 untrained attachment teachers (GSTTs) in Sabah, who are currently unemployed, will be reappointed and given the opportunities to undergo teaching courses so that they can be absorbed as permanent teachers, Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi said.

The intake would be carried out in stages because the creation of such posts would have to be approved by the Public Service Department (PSD), he said.

"We are discussing this with the PSD. We are serious in helping them and that is why we are not going to carry out the post-degree teaching courses this year.

"We should also take into consideration the posting of teaching graduands who are completing their studies in November," he told reporters after visiting Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Pulau Gaya, here today.

He was commenting on the statement by Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun last week who expressed confident that the matter could be resolved based on the positive feedback, including from Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who is also the Education Minister.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili had also raised the matter recently, saying that only 164 of 557 GSTTs were reappointed this year.

Mohd Puad gave no time frame on when these GSTTs could all be absorbed as permanent teachers.

Meanwhile, Mohd Puad said the Education Ministry would utilise the ministry's emergency allocation to rebuild two blocks of SMK Pulau Gaya that was destroyed in a fire on Thursday.

He said the project would be completed before the schooling session next year.

The two blocks had housed seven classrooms with 234 Form One and Form Two students as well as three utility rooms. The school has 23 classrooms with 686 students.

Mohd Puad also announced RM20,000 in allocation to repair the school's wiring system.

He was pleased to note that the Penilaian Menengah Rendah examination, which started today and involving 137 students at the school, was going on smoothly.

On the delay in the construction of SMK Nabalu in Kiulu, he said the Education Department had yet to get the approval from the state Land and Survey Department to enter the proposed site.

The environmental impact assessment report on the project had not been obtained yet, he said.