PORT DICKSON: Young Chinese Malaysians are not keen to be teachers, says Cheah Lek Aee, chairman of the United Chinese School Teachers Association of Malaysia, also known as Jiao Zong.

Apart from flaws in the policy under the Ministry of Education which does not have a comprehensive plan to solve the shortage of Chinese primary school teachers for many years, Cheah said there are many career options for young people nowadays.

“Teaching is known to be a tough profession which requires one to put in a lot of effort.

“As many are worried they would be posted to remote areas, various factors have directly affected young people from choosing teaching to be their career,” he said.

For many years, Jiao Zong has assisted the government to resolve issues related to the shortage of teachers at Chinese primary schools, Cheah said.

“Jiao Zong does not only push the government but also suggests to the government to work closely to encourage more Chinese to be teachers,” he said.

Since forming the working committee on “I want to be a teacher” with several other groups over a year ago, Jiao Zong has managed to increase the number of candidates applying to join the Chinese division under the teachers training college, he said.

A total of 6,296 candidates applied to the Chinese division this year, he said, an increase of 46 percent or 1,985 candidates, compared to 4,311 applicants last year.

“This is exciting for us,” he said.

Last year, Cheah said a total of 784 candidates were recruited, representing 100 percent of vacancies filled.

This year, the vacancies have increased to 1,678.

“We hope all vacancies can be taken up this year,” he said.

A total of 125 representatives affiliated to 40 associations nationwide attended the 74th annual general meeting of Jiao Zong held in Port Dickson Wednesday.