D18 : Education

Last year, there was an Education Ministry proposal to post some 80,000 teachers from the Peninsula to Sabah and Sarawak. This proposal is baffling given that there are thousands of youths in East Malaysia who are interested and qualified to be trained as teachers, local political leaders have said. Besides, there are 578 attachment teachers in Sabah who are waiting for their contracts to be extended. Fears have been expressed that the transfer of teachers to East Malaysia would include many religious teachers. Education Ministry officials in remote districts such as Nabawan, Kemabong and Telupid have allegedly rejected the applications of local youth who are keen to be teachers. According to the Sabah Education Department, more than 20% of teachers placed all over Sabah are not from Sabah. Sabah is also critically short of English teachers. With regards to infrastructure, about 100 primary and secondary schools in the interior are flooded whenever there is continuous heavy rain, often affecting about 9,000 schoolchildren.

Prayer Suggestions: • Pray for the Church to challenge more dedicated Christian teachers to serve in interior areas. • Pray for greater support for our Christian teachers and Principals by the Church and society in their endeavour to make a difference in the sphere of education. • Pray for teachers to model good values. • Pray for Christian Fellowships in schools to flourish. • Pray for parents to be willing to release their children to become educators in the state.