Trials and Tribulations of a Teacher
These conditions have been written without any thought or coherence. No critical thinking has been applied.
By SpicaOne
The Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Higher Education Minister, and every Tom, Dick and Harry of a politician announced the need for the country to increase its knowledge potential to meet the high income status and growth that all wish for. They proudly state that they need so many thousand PhD holders and Masters holders.
Teachers are a primary source of candidates for these knowledge uplifting courses but the system in place is rarely supportive.
Firstly, the teacher must obtain the “sokongan” from the Pengetua/Guru Besar to apply to the Jabatan Pelajaran Negeri (JPN) for approval to join the University for an approved course and whether the teacher applies for full time or part time attendance. Next, the teacher must apply and be accepted by the University. Once the teacher obtains the admission to the University, the teacher must inform the JPN of the admission.
JPN then issues a letter to confirm that JPN approves of the admission and sets the limits of the approval plus details of the leave (if any) limits. For this instance we shall focus on “Kelulusan Bagi Permohonan Mengikuti Kursus Secara Sambilan Di Bawah Program Pendidikan Jarak Jauh/Luar Kampus Peringkat Sarjana Lanjutan (PhD)/ Sarjana.”
This is an extract from such an approval letter:
2. Kelulusan ini adalah tertakluk kepada syarat- syarat berikut:
a. Kursus yang diikuti hanyalah selepas waktu pejabat atau hujung minggu dan ianya tidak sekali-kali boleh menjejaskan prestasi Perkhidmatan Awam serta kepentingan jabatan tuan. Tuan/puan hendaklah membuat pengakuan bahawa kursus yang diikuti tidak mengganggu tugas-tugas harian.
b. Tuan/puan boleh memohon Cuti Kursus Sambilan (CKS) bagi mengikuti Kursus Insentif secara penuh masa (kuliah/tutorial/bengkel/seminar/kolokium dan latihan amali/ latihan industri) yang kurang daripada 30 hari serta boleh memohon cuti tanpa rekod mengikut Perintah Am Bab ‘C’ Para 44 bagi menghadiri peperiksaan yang disyaratkan oleh Institusi pengajian;
Let us analyze the contents of the above offer:
2 a. Course is approved for attendance only after working hours or weekends. The course is not to cause disruption to one’s work or duties.
2 b. The teacher can apply for CUTI KURSUS SAMBILAN (CKS) as an incentive to attend the university. The teacher has been provided with 30 days’ leave without record in accordance to stipulated regulations for the above purpose.
Can you reason out why a teacher needs to take leave for a course conducted after office/school hours or on weekends?
If the teacher attends university after working hours or on weekends, can there be disruption to the teacher’s work or duties?
aTeachers have morning and afternoon school sessions. Is the JPN so sure that the university offers lectures for the selected course at night after school? The afternoon school sessions end at 6:45 PM. Universities are usually located at distance. If the teacher is a lady, it will mean extremely late night returns home. A safety and security issue for Malaysians.
For example: A Principal who wishes to pursue a PhD program but works from 7:30 AM to 5.00 PM cannot take this leave and go to the University. He/She must look for an evening course or one conducted on a weekend only.
There are serious repercussions to these stipulations. These conditions have been written without any thought or coherence. No critical thinking has been applied.
I shall continue to write on the actual repercussion on the next submission.
HAPPY TEACHERS DAY
