SIBU: Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn expressed his disappointment with the Special Sarawak Recruitment initiative, designed to tackle the shortage of primary and secondary school teachers in the state.
“I feel very disappointed because this was supposed to be an initiative solely for Sarawakians. But now, they are saying they will also interview candidates from other parts of Malaysia.
“Of course, the power is in their hands; the authority lies with the Public Services Commission (SPP).
“We have no say in it, but I feel as though they are not honouring their promise,” he conveyed during a press conference here today.
Sagah emphasised that Sarawak never stated it couldn’t interview candidates from other states, but if the authorities felt the need to, they should conduct it at a different time.
When questioned about the number of shortlisted applicants called for interviews, he mentioned that he had yet to receive that data. However, he noted that about 300 non-Sarawakians with a degree in education were among those listed.
Responding to viral posts alleging that more non-Sarawakians than Sarawakians had been shortlisted, Sagah refuted the rumours, stating that there was no data yet.
“That’s why I don’t want them to do this (open it to all Malaysians). Claiming that there are more non-Sarawakians is unfair. We must be consistent and fair.
“We don’t know how many will be selected to fill the positions. Only at the end of the process will we have clarity,” he remarked.
He stressed his hope that all the 1,733 vacant positions would be filled by Sarawakians, with the SPP doing its best to support all Sarawakian candidates.
“We request that this opportunity be reserved exclusively for Sarawak because, from the start, we have declared this recruitment for Sarawakians. We wish to maintain that stance.
“Of course, we cannot prevent them from hiring others, but let that happen on a separate occasion, not simultaneously. This has led to dissatisfaction among the applicants,” he added.
The initiative attracted over 15,000 applications, with only 2,000 individuals shortlisted for face-to-face interviews, scheduled across three locations: Kuching, Sibu and Miri.
Also in attendance were chief Political Secretary to the Premier and Tupong assemblyman Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman, along with councillor Raden Khairulzaman Raden Bustari.
