Radzi said he was aware of the many issues raised by the media; however, his ministry was selective in responding and instead, focused on strengthening the foundation of the country’s educational system.

“Our approach at the education ministry is to focus on structural matters. This is why when we hear many issues raised, we will only provide the necessary responses.

“But this is for sure, in the last two years, we have focused on the main issues that have had a big impact on the ministry,” he told reporters today.

Radzi said, within the two years of “silence”, the education ministry had recruited 18,702 teachers to fill vacancies in the teaching sector.

He said many parties had brought up the issue of a lack of teachers in schools and thus the ministry provided a solution by increasing the number of teachers in an effort to reduce the workload of educators.

“When I entered the ministry, I took this issue very seriously. If the basic issues related to the supply of teachers are not resolved, then we find it difficult to resolve the burden of teachers.

“After this, we will not have a problem with a shortage of teachers and the ministry can move forward with enough educators,” he said.

Heavy school bags

Radzi said the reduction in subjects could overcome the issue of heavy school bags.

He said as the first step, the ministry has decided to reduce the number of subjects for students from seven to three or four subjects.

FMT previously reported that a teenager had to undergo spinal surgery. Among the reasons was carrying a heavy school bag.