My Responses To Tortured Teachers

Tortured teachers

2010/05/16

By Anis Ibrahim
anisibrahim@nst.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Complaints by teachers that they are bogged down with work that is unrelated to teaching are “justified”.

I agree to be bogged down by work unrelated to teaching.


A committee set up by the Education Ministry in March to look into teachers’ extra duties has concluded that teachers have too many administrative duties, affecting their teaching and their students’ learning.

A copy of the panel’s report, made available to the New Sunday Times, revealed that a school can have as many as 40 committees, including school administration, security, cleanliness, student affairs and student well-being.

A source said on average, teachers belonged to 25 committees, thus depriving them of time from teaching.

Yes, a lot of my time is devoted to the administrative matters in school. I spend every Friday attending the school management meeting where important matters of school administration are discussed.

Being in 25 committees is not an exaggeration. For every activity in school, teachers are organised into committees. Let's just talk about last week. My school was nominated for Sekolah Lestari, and a committee was drawn up to prepare for this. On Saturday's gotong-royong perdana, again, the teachers were put in various committees.

This week, I have to run an orientation programme for the new intake of Lower 6 students. And at the same time, I'd been roped into the school level teachers' day celebration committee. Therefore, if teachers are involved in an average of 2 committees a week for 42 weeks in the academic calendar, they'd be in 84 committees a year!!

In my position, I only have to teach 8 periods, but I am teaching 16 and be expected to perform all administrative duties as stipulated by the scope of my job.


“Imagine the pressure they are under.The panel also found that students are often required to sit up to 20 school-based tests in a year, over and above public examinations.

“These tests put more pressure on teachers, who have to prepare and mark the questions.”

My school has 4 major assessments a year. These are the mid and end of the semester examinations every semester. However, there are indeed many school-based assessments for every subject. Oral assessments for the languages, PEKA for science, and kerja kursus for subjects like Geography, History, Moral studies, among some.

For the upper forms where lots of essays are written for every subject, marking is a burden. I have trouble coping with marking my students' essays. Hence, I am seen to be marking all the time - during roll call, at assemblies, at meetings, in the canteen, and so on.


These problems are made worse because of the courses teachers attend throughout the year.

“Some of the courses are unnecessary,” the source added. This situation results in a high rate of teacher “absentees”. Pursuant to the report, Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasssin, in his Teachers Day speech at the national-level celebration in Kuantan today, will unveil steps to reduce administrative
and non-teaching duties to allow teachers to concentrate on teaching.

What courses? I have not attended any courses this year. However, in school, we do organise ouf own CPD talks and workshops. all of which are held after school.


Among the measures are increasing the number of clerical staff in schools to take over teachers’ administrative tasks. There will also be guidelines on what constitutes a teacher’s job, and what should be done by clerks.

Actually, I look at the clerks differently now, and I do respect them a lot. There's so many clerical procedures that they need to be familiar with. Some of which are so petty to us teachers, yet, it is a part of the procedure to follow. For instance, I asked for receipt books one day. And before giving the to me, the clerk proceeded to record the serial numbers in various inventory booklets. I wondered at the time, if I were a clerk, would I remember the details of how things work?

Furthermore, with the recent budget cuts, I really salute my clerk as she struggles to pay for all the school expenditure!! She told me last week that the allocation for utilities is almost used up. And she worried about how we were going to pay for electricity and water once the money is gone!

More clerks in school? Well, besides those attending to the clerical work in school, I think there needs to be personnel of every kind - like the school doctor, school police, school barber, librarian, IT technician, specialised sports teachers or trainers, CCA teachers, music and drama directors, art directors, to be exact. Teachers are expected to be jack of all trades when they are neither good nor knowledgeable in some fields. Why not train some people in those other fields so that they can teach students right? Let teachers just focus on teaching in the classroom.

If teachers are expected to be all those that they are not, then the Teachers' Training College should equip them for it. Much of teachers' training focus on the academic matter and pedagogy. How about those other areas that are not covered?


Muhyiddin will also direct schools to reduce the number of committees and school-based tests. The source said: “Teachers will also be required to attend fewer courses. The courses will be standardised at the ministry level to ensure there are no overlaps with those organised at state and district levels.”

There are already very few courses these days, compared to previously.


Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister, will also announce the Education Ministry’s “New Deals” scheme.

Under the scheme, the ministry will give monetary rewards to principals,
headmasters and teachers who push their schools to excel.

New Deal = monetary rewards to principals = principals push teachers to work in all aspects = teaching and marking and setting examination papers and more marking and documentation and paper work and co-curricular activities = STRESS STRESS STRESS and MORE STRESS


In March, Muhyiddin announced that a committee had been set up to look into complaints that teachers were being burdened with work related to teaching.
The decision to set up the committee was made after he chaired a meeting with the National Union of the Teaching Profession in Parliament House earlier that month.

Ok. Please don't just look into the complaints. Do something about it!!


The panel, headed by Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom, includes representatives from the union. The union had complained that teachers were facing additional workload where co-curriculum, classes, examinations, student affairs and administration were concerned, jeopardising teaching and learning.

The committee was asked to come up with a report within two months on ways to reduce teachers’ work burden. Alimuddin had said recently that the committee visited many schools to get feedback from teachers.

No one visited us here. Neither do I expect any drastic changes in two months. But at the end of the day, the people who have a say in their offices far away in Putrajaya should not compromise the teaching and learning of students in whatever decision that is made.