KUCHING, June 14: Sarawak’s total number of teachers have shown a declining trend over the years with only 41,217 teachers to teach 480,983 students in the State, according to data for the year 2020.
Of the teachers, 25,365 of them are placed in primary schools, 15,129 are in secondary schools, 676 in vocational schools and 47 in technical secondary schools.
The figures were based on data compiled by the Malaysian Department of Statistics which was inducted in a report titled ‘Sarawak Facts and Figures 2021’ by the Economic Planning Unit under the Premier of Sarawak’s Department.
The figures reported that back in 2016, Sarawak had 42,980 teachers placed in 1,484 schools in the State and the number of teachers have increased to 43,178 the following year.
In 2018, three new schools were built in the State but instead of showing an increase, the number of teachers have declined to 42,926.
The total number of teachers continued to decrease in 2019 with only 42,258 teachers placed in 1,488 schools in the State.
The same report also highlighted that there were 1,020 dilapidated schools in the State as of Oct 31, 2020.
The determination of redevelopment or upgrading of dilapidated schools are based on impact score grade analysis which has 7 levels on the scale.
Level 1 to 4 refers to buildings that are still functioning and safe to use.
Level 5 are buildings that have been reported by schools as not safe and require maintenance.
Level 6 refers to buildings that are not safe with validation from District Education Office or the State Education Department.
Level 7 refers to buildings that are not safe with validation from the Public Works Department (PWD).
Of the 1,020 schools categorised as dilapidated at that time, 56 schools were categorised as Level 7, 569 as Level 6 and 395 as Level 5. — DayakDaily
