900 teachers with mental-related problems in Malaysia!

900 teachers with mental-related problems in Malaysia!

Please don’t just tell Malaysians that at least 2% of teachers nationwide have mental-related problems.

Tell us that the Education Ministry is seriously dealing with such problematic teachers and not leaving it to chance for untoward incidents to happen before acting.

“There are 450,000 teachers nationwide. That means there are some 900 distressed teachers in schools who pose a threat to the safety of school children.

“School children are fragile to any form of physical violence. Such teachers, after counselling, should be transferred to desk duty instead of putting them back in classrooms,” Gerakan Deputy Speaker Syed Abdul Razak Alsagoff said.

Syed Razak was responding to Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan’s statement to the media that teachers who experience “extreme stress” while performing their duties were encouraged to seek counselling at the education ministry’s psychology and counselling division.

“Why encourage? Order all of them to seek help or treatment. It would also do well for the ministry to also look into the major sources and causes of stress in workplace,” he added.

Shouldn’t the Education Ministry also tackle the major sources of stress in workplace?

Syed Razak, who is Gerakan’s nominee to contest N.37 Bukit Lanjan in the coming 14th General Election (GE14), said such “distressed” teachers should ideally be transferred to desk duties after undergoing counselling.

“They can then be transferred back to classrooms after a period of monitoring to determine that he or she is mentally stable or fit to return to teaching,” he added.

Syed Razak said the safety of school children in classrooms or in school premise must be the top priority of the Education Ministry.

“There should be no room whatsoever to leave such problems to chance or risk,” he added.

Here’s what national news agency Bernama reported as posted by online news portal Malaysia Chronicle:

"AT LEAST 2% OF MALAYSIAN TEACHERS HAVE MENTAL PROBLEMS: TEACHERS UNDER ‘EXTREME STRESS’ NEED COUNSELLING – KAMALANATHAN

Politics | April 24, 2017 by | 0 Comments
KUALA LUMPUR – Teachers who experience “extreme stress” while performing their duties are encouraged to seek counselling at the education ministry’s psychology and counselling division.

Deputy Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan said the move was to prevent any untoward incident involving teachers.
“We have 450,000 teachers in Malaysia and most of them are ”exemplary teachers” and very responsible.

“However, there are some troubled teachers suffering from depression and stress and we provide a lot of avenues to help them.

“Last year, about 200 teachers underwent counselling, including two per cent who were instructed to do so,” he told reporters after launching the Malaysian Education Ministry’s 2017 Education Tour here Sunday.

Kamalanathan was asked to comment on an incident where a Year Two pupil sustained a head injury after being hit by a wooden chair thrown by a teacher at a school in Penampang, Sabah, two days ago.

“Obviously, we do not want a recurrence of something like that. If you (the teachers) have a problem, it is important for you to talk to someone,” he said.

On the participation of schoolchildren in triad activities in Selangor, he said the ministry would wait for the police to complete their investigations before taking appropriate action.

On the ministry’s 2017 Education Tour, he said the programme was aimed at providing information to the public about the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 and its achievements to date. – Bernama"

N.37 LET BUKIT LANJAN SOAR WITH SYED ABDUL RAZAK ALSAGOFF