KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Bernama) -- Several action taken by the Education Ministry since January this year, including the re-structuring of schools has created dissatisfaction among teachers, said the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP).

Its president, Anuar Ibrahim, claimed the ministry had taken most of the action without even consulting the union, and that resulted in dissatisfaction among the teachers.

For example, he said, in the school re-structuring early this year, direct promotion was only given to teachers who taught Sixth Form students.

"This kind of promotion has made the other teachers feel neglected," he told a media conference, here today.

To make things worse, Anuar said those Sixth Form teachers were being promoted to between Grade DG 44 and DG 52, which sometimes was higher than that of a Senior Assistant's grade.

Apart from that, he said, the teachers were also unsatisfied when the Grades were determined for them, regardless of their teaching experience.

"Imagine an experienced teacher who just graduated on her own expenses, now receives a much lower income compared to when she was without a degree," he said.

"This is the reason why 70,000 teachers who continued their studies on their own initiatives, felt dissatisfied when they were put on a lower Grade, when most of their friends in Medical or Immigration sectors receive higher Grades according to their years of experiences," he said.

Another issue, Anuar said, was regarding a scheduled tax deduction for teachers which had been implemented since February.

He said, the deduction was now as high as RM200 to RM1000 per month.

"When there are too many teachers feeling dissatisfied with the deduction, we don't know what to say, because we were not even consulted on the matter," he said.

Anuar also claimed that the Union was not invited to discuss the decision made by Public Services Department (PSD)to stop the critical service incentive allowance (CSIA) to teachers who taught craftsmanship subjects.

He hoped the ministry would not ignore these issues any longer.

"Most of the time, our complaints and letters come to a dead end. There were hardly any response or feedback from the ministry," he said.

Ask whether all these issues has made the teachers supported the Opposition in the recent general election, Anuar however, refused to comment.

-- BERNAMA