KUCHING, Sept 27: Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU) urges the Ministry of Education (MOE) to engage with the State Education Department to resolve the issue of unvaccinated teachers instead of highlighting it in the media.
Its president Adam Prakash Abdullah said there is no need to penalise the teachers through the media and paint a negative picture of teaching professionals.
“What could be done is to call these teachers and solve the problem. STU is very sure that there are also other civil servants who refuse to be vaccinated but they were never highlighted in the media.
“We should help these teachers and convince them of the importance of the vaccination. The MOE should probably look at the implication of such announcement in the future before washing our dirty linen in public,” he said in a statement today.
He was commenting on Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin’s announcement yesterday which revealed that among solutions being mulled to solve the issue of teachers who are vaccine hesitant was to transfer the teachers.
According to a report by Bernama, Radzi said the unvaccinated teachers’ actions may cause the Teaching and Learning (PdP) process of students to be affected. He said this issue should not be allowed to prolong and transfers, including interstate, might be carried out to resolve it.
In response to this, Adam pointed out that the announcement has not gone down well with the teachers.
“We hope the MOE will discuss this issue with the State Education Department and find a solution to this issue,” he said. — DayakDaily
