PETALING JAYA: Teachers refusing to be vaccinated should stop teaching so that others will feel safe from Covid-19 in schools.

       Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said these teachers should take optional retirement or give online tutoring if they want to remain in the teaching profession.

       “If a teacher is passionate about teaching, a lucrative pathway to private tuition awaits. Just ensure the WiFi is wired for optimal reach,” she said in response to teachers, who are civil servants, refusing to be vaccinated.

       Educationist and former National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam said although it is everyone’s right on whether or not to be vaccinated, these teachers are setting a wrong example to their students.

       “Though (teachers refusing to be vaccinated) are not a significant number, teachers are a group that abides by rulings and regulations.

       “So in this case, these teachers need to reconsider their decision and get themselves vaccinated so that people around them feel safe and also, set an example for others to follow suit,” he added.

       NUTP secretary-general Wang Heng Suan said the union has already urged these teachers to be vaccinated.

       He said to the best of his knowledge, the number of unvaccinated teachers dropped to 1,400 (from 2,500) as of Nov 1, and out of 1.6 million civil servants, there are around 440,000 teachers.

       On Tuesday, Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said 279 teachers in the state have refused the vaccination against Covid-19.

       Some, he said, insisted it was their right not to get vaccinated.

       However, students and teachers who are vaccinated have the right to feel safe and protected, too, news portals quoted him as saying.

       Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman said Education Ministry staff are believed to constitute the biggest group of civil servants who have yet to be vaccinated against Covid-19, Bernama reported.

       Those who do not want to be vaccinated because they are cancer patients, have just given birth, or have the Covid-19 infection would be given an exemption, Mohd Khairul Adib said on Monday.