PETALING JAYA AMONG HIGHEST IN SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER-STUDENT RATIO - WONG

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 (Bernama) -- Petaling Jaya is among the areas with the highest ratios of special education teachers to students, following strong demand from parents and students and limited teacher availability, the Dewan Negara was told today.

Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said the situation was occurring in several districts, despite the overall teacher-student ratio nearing the target of 1:6.5, equivalent to one teacher for 6.5 students.

Therefore, he said the Ministry of Education (MOE) had outlined both short-term and long-term measures to increase the number of special education teachers.

“As a short-term measure, the MOE introduced the Special Education Exposure Course for mainstream teachers interested in joining the Special Education Integrated Programme (PPKI). The three-day, two-night course allows them to be absorbed as special education teachers, with 224 teachers absorbed last year,” he said in a question-and-answer session.

He was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Dr Mohd Hatta Md Ramli on the government’s readiness to address teacher shortages across different localities, including through private sector collaboration.

As a long-term measure, Wong said recruitment was being carried out through the Teacher Education Institute (IPG) via the five-year Bachelor of Teaching Degree Programme (PISMP), in addition to appointments on a Contract of Service (COS) basis according to need.

“MOE is aware of the increasing need. In the near future, 533 reserve candidates certified by the Education Service Commission (SPP) will be placed in April, followed by 287 new appointments in the same month.

“Also expected to be placed this year are 205 PISMP graduates who will have their convocation in June, as well as an additional 268 reserve candidates for the Islamic Education option,” he said.

Wong said that, overall, at least 1,293 new special education teachers were expected to be placed this year, excluding any additional appointments that might be made towards the end of the year.

Earlier, he said that as of Jan 31, there were 154,557 students with special educational needs, 3,299 of whom were in special education schools, 127,005 in mainstream schools under PPKI, and 24,253 in the Inclusive Education Programme.

He added that, as of Jan 31, 21,876 positions for special education teachers had been offered, with 20,420 filled, of which 19,037 were Integration Programme teachers in PPKI, comprising 10,577 in primary schools and 8,460 in secondary schools.

--BERNAMA