All because of extended maternity leave for women, especially teachers.
The Star newspaper reported that the Education Ministry needs more substitute teachers following the decision to increase the maternity leave for women.
At the last Budget session, the Government announced that women teachers are eligible to take maternity leave of up to 90 days, compared to 60 days previously.
“The number of days has increased. This means we need more substitute teachers, or an increase of at least 50%,” the report quoted Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong as saying.
He added, however, that the ministry was looking into ways to solve the problem.
He was speaking at a press conference after opening the English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC)-Teacher Education Division (TED) Conference 2011 here yesterday.
Dr Wee said substitute teachers were needed because teachers sometimes took maternity leave simultaneously.
“It is not easy to find substitute teachers,” he said, adding that although there were back-up teachers it requires careful planning and an increase in allocation.
