Deputy Education Minister outlines short and long-term plans to recruit over 1,200 new special education teachers this year to address shortages

KUALA LUMPUR: Petaling Jaya is among the areas with the highest ratios of special education teachers to students.

Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh told the Dewan Negara this is due to strong parental demand and limited teacher availability.

He said the situation persists in several districts despite the overall teacher-student ratio nearing the national target of 1:6.5.

In response, the Ministry of Education has outlined both short-term and long-term measures to increase teacher numbers.

As a short-term measure, a Special Education Exposure Course for mainstream teachers was introduced.

The three-day, two-night course allows interested teachers to be absorbed into the Special Education Integrated Programme (PPKI).

A total of 224 teachers were absorbed through this initiative last year.

For the long term, recruitment is ongoing through the Teacher Education Institute’s five-year Bachelor of Teaching Degree Programme.

Appointments are also made on a Contract of Service basis according to need.

Wong said the ministry is aware of the increasing demand for these specialised educators.

He detailed that 533 reserve candidates certified by the Education Service Commission will be placed in April.

A further 287 new appointments are also scheduled for the same month.

An additional 205 graduates from the teaching degree programme are expected to be placed after their convocation in June.

Another 268 reserve candidates for the Islamic Education option are also slated for placement this year.

Overall, at least 1,293 new special education teachers are expected to be placed in 2026.

This figure excludes any additional appointments that might be made towards the end of the year.

Wong was responding to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Dr Mohd Hatta Md Ramli.

The question concerned the government’s readiness to address localised teacher shortages, including through private sector collaboration.

Earlier, Wong provided current statistics on special education needs in Malaysia.

As of Jan 31, there were 154,557 students with special educational needs nationwide.

Of these, 3,299 students were in special education schools.

A total of 127,005 were in mainstream schools under the PPKI programme.

Another 24,253 students were enrolled in the Inclusive Education Programme.

Regarding teaching positions, 21,876 posts for special education teachers had been offered.

As of Jan 31, 20,420 of these positions were filled.

Within that number, 19,037 were Integration Programme teachers in PPKI.

This comprised 10,577 teachers in primary schools and 8,460 in secondary schools.

 The Sun Malaysia