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29th June, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has no plans as yet to establish a teachers veterans department to look after the welfare of retired educators, the Dewan Rakyat was told yesterday.
Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi said most of the teachers had gone on mandatory retirement and had no difficulty securing jobs thereafter.
“Many of them have taken up jobs as contract teachers, tuition teachers and motivational teachers and also served at private institutions of higher learning. The expertise and experience of teachers are relevant, invaluable and necessary (despite their retirement).
“Nevertheless, Yayasan Guru Malaysia Berhad (YGMB) can take care of the welfare and socio-economic needs of educators, including retired teachers,” he said when replying to a question from Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakri (BN-Sabak Bernam) who had wanted to know the extent of efforts to set up a teacher veterans department.
Mohd Puad said YGMB, under a new administration headed by Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom, was undertaking improvements and it could serve as an alternative to the proposed Teacher Veterans Department.
Mohd Puad also said that the government had set a target of raising YGMB membership by 100,000 this year so that more of the 400,000 or more teachers nationwide could benefit from it.
YGMB, which now had 80,000 members, offered 16 kinds of assistance, including marriage and death benefits.
Replying to a supplementary question, from M. Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat), on the lack of teachers who produced literature in their own fields, Mohd Puad said YGMB should play a role in motivating teachers in this area.
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