COMMENT | Unwise to increase salaries of all teachers

COMMENT | Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek’s call on May 27, 2023, to increase the salaries of all teachers with higher qualifications is expensive, misguided, and would not solve the critical problems facing Malaysian schools, specifically declining standards.

On the contrary, that would only aggravate them. This tendency to institute a general solution instead of focusing on specific problems is, alas, typical of Malaysian policymaking.

Fadhlina’s proposal would result only in more of those with higher qualifications in Islamic Studies and Malay Studies becoming teachers. You do not need them as there is already a glut. The pressing shortage is in teachers (with or without higher qualifications) of English and STEM subjects. This is most acute in rural schools.

Instead...