Education office stops paying for substitute teachers

(The Star) THE Kluang Education Office will not bear the cost of engaging substitute teachers for Chinese primary schools in the district, starting from this month, Sin Chew Daily reported.

The chairman of a parent-teacher association of a Chinese primary school told the daily that all the affected schools have been informed in writing about the new ruling.

“Substitute teachers are paid RM110 per day and now the school’s board of directors and parent-teacher association will have to fork out the money.

“Our school has five substitute teachers which means we have to bear additional expenses of about RM10,000 a month,” he said, adding that the Education Depart-ment’s decisions might force them to slash the pay of substitute teachers.

Some schools, he said, might even stop hiring substitute teachers. Many Chinese primary schools in the district hire substitute teachers to take over the responsibilities of teachers who are attending degree courses or those on maternity leave.