KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — Loss of interest in the profession has been identified as the main reason teachers choose to retire early, besides factors including family and health problems, said Education Deputy Minister Wong Kah Woh.
Based on the ministry’s data, a total of 67.44 per cent of teacher who applied for early retirement cited a lack of interest in continuing their teaching career as the primary reason.
“Family problems accounted for 17.43 per cent, followed by health issues (7.69 per cent), work load (5.37 per cent) and personal problems (2.08 per cent),” he said during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Wong was replying to Kuala Pilah MP Datuk Adnan Abu Hassan's supplementary query about the Education Ministry (MOE)’s assessment of the effectiveness of current workload management mechanisms, including psychological support, to ensure the well-being of teachers is guaranteed.
In reply to Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin's original question on the number of teachers opting for early retirement from 2022 and 2024, he said that as of May, 2,397 teachers had retired early, with the figure for last year being 5,082; for 2023 (6,394), and 2022 (5,306).
“The average number of teachers who retired early from 2022 to 2024 was 5,594 per year,” Wong said.
To address the issue of teacher shortage and ensure their well-being, the MOE recruits permanent teachers twice a year, while the Education Service Commission opens a teacher application system throughout the year to expedite the recruitment and placement of teachers.
“The MOE has been making improvements to the management functions in MOE schools through the creation of the School Governance Module (MySG) since 2021. The MOE has also developed a job description document since 2016, which explains the accountability of specific tasks and can assist teachers in carrying out their duties more effectively," he said.
It has also taken a holistic and progressive approach to ensuring teachers remained motivated through the seven-step teacher well-being initiative, which focused on teacher pedagogy, assessment, school operations, examination evaluation, and school management and administration.
“The summary of the initiative’s implementation survey conducted in December 2024, involving 1,007 schools nationwide, shows that it has been successful.
“The initiative also showed positive results based on the Teacher Wellbeing Index (IKG) study between November 2024 and January 2025. The study involved 23,625 teacher respondents, who scored at a high level of 77.65 out of a maximum scale of 100,” Wong said.
