BANGI, July 13 — The government’s move to exclude negligent, underperforming, and undisciplined teachers from the time-based promotion system is very important to ensure the quality of teachers and their productivity are in line with their grades.
In full support of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement on the matter, the National Union of Teaching Profession's (NUTP) president Aminuddin Awang said the move is also necessary to ensure that only truly qualified teachers are promoted.
“Even in the current situation, our “time-based” hinges on excellence and is not automatic. We have an evaluation by the head of the department, and for promotion, the criteria we look at is excellence in terms of marks and performance,” he told the press after attending the NUTP's Golden Jubilee celebration ceremony today.
Earlier, Anwar, who officiated the event, said the government accepted the principle of "time-based" promotion but insisted that the facility would be excluded for teachers who underperformed and were negligent.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, Public Service Department director-general Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz, and Selangor Menteri Besar Dato' Seri Amirudin Shari also attended the event.
Aminuddin said through the time-based promotion, graduate teachers in grade DG41 who have served for eight years will be promoted to grade DG44, then eight years that to DG48, six years after that to DG52 and three years later to DG54.
Earlier in his speech, he requested that the government improve or maintain promotions on a time-based basis for educators in the Public Service New Remuneration Scheme (SSPA), which will be announced later.
This system was among the best initiatives by the government in a long time. It will help about 450,000 educators nationwide be promoted after reaching a certain period of service.
"The government has introduced the time-based system for teachers because we have 450,000 teachers but only 10,223 schools. Therefore, if there is no ‘time-based’ (system) then out of the 450,000 teachers, only a few of them can be promoted...for example, entering (service) on a grade of DG29 but after 33 years of work, retiring on grade DG29 as well," Aminuddin said.
Established in 1974, NUTP is a combination of two teachers' unions, the National Union of Teachers and Kesatuan Kebangsaan Guru-Guru Sekolah Kebangsaan, Malaysia Barat. It functions as a union for the teaching profession.
— Bernama
