LANGKAWI: A total of 13,225 new teachers hired under the special one-off recruitment exercise have reported or accepted their respective placements so far, says Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin (pic).

       He said 307 of them reported for duty on Dec 1, 8,120 on March 1, with 4,828 set to begin duties on April 4.

       "Alhamdulillah, we have completed (the recruitment) of over 13,000 teachers, for the latest batch over 4,000 of them will begin next month.

       "Insyallah, for the remaining 5,000 teachers, we will be working closely with the Education Service Commission so that the remaining vacancies can be filled up as soon as possible,” he told reporters after attending a Yayasan Didik Negara and Yayasan AEON student digital device programme at SMK Kelibang here on Wednesday (March 23).

       In July last year, Radzi announced that the ministry would make a special one-off intake of 18,702 teachers to address shortages in several states including Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Johor. – Bernama