The Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU) said the ratio had caused a shortage of 3,000 teachers in Sarawak, severely affecting schools in rural areas.

In a statement, STU said one of the reasons Sarawakian schools could never be on par with other states was because it lacked sufficient educators.

“When that happens, teachers are forced to teach subjects they are not specialised in and, on top of that, are expected to produce excellent results,” it said.

“Teachers have been shouldering this extra burden for years and yet they are never spared when it comes to the ‘blame game’ that they are not doing enough for the students.”

The union said the state education department could do little to help, as it could only assist in the placement of teachers if there were enough to go around.

It urged state education, science and technological research minister Michael Manyin Jawong and his team to hold discussions with the federal education ministry to allow more teachers from the peninsula to teach in Sarawak as soon as possible.

“If we need teachers from the west, open our doors and let them assist us. It will not make us less Sarawakian or less patriotic,” it said, adding that it was ready to assist the state government and education department to resolve the issue.