Hope of coming home to serve country dashed

It looks as if Malaysia is the only country in the world that I know of at present, who does not want her sons back despite the qualifications they have attained. Just read the following letter to the editor which appeared in the Sunday Star of 11 October 2009.

"Hope of coming home to serve country dashed

I AM almost completing the Graduate Diploma in Education at the University of Western Australia and have been looking forward to serving the country.

I completed my undergraduate Science degree in USM Penang and opted for an internationally recognised teaching qualification for security purposes.

I recently applied online on the Education Ministry’s website for the position of Guru Sandaran Terlatih and have been regularly checking the site for updates after I found it difficult to speak directly to a person about my circumstances.

When I finally managed to speak to an officer from the ministry last week, he informed me that the route to a permanent post is via an initial probationary period subject to confirmation, and that it was the same for teaching students from public and private colleges.

He, however, could not offer me more information and suggested I call back at another time. I later spoke to someone else in the office about the process and she told me that I would need to have my qualifications recognised by the JPA before I could be granted an interview. But she did not know what should be done after obtaining the JPA recognition.

Anyway, I called JPA and was curtly told that my qualifications are not recognised, never mind that it is internationally recognised. I was too distraught to proceed with further questions like where should I go from here, etc.

I do not mean to sound pompous, but my reports and academic results have been outstanding and I have even been offered a teaching position overseas. I declined because I wanted to come home to serve my country.

To be presented with such news is both disappointing and shocking. I guess I can still apply to local private schools but my desire is to make a positive difference in the public education system – a system that I am proudly a product of.

Now I need to figure out what to tell my parents who have funded this course with their life savings. I know I will be faulted for not finding this out before enrolling but really, who would have thought that an internationally recognised qualification is not recognised in Malaysia? Needless to say, I am disillusioned and extremely disappointed that my qualifications and big dreams have no place in Malaysia. Do we even need to wonder why young people are forced out of their own country?

DISILLUSIONED,
Australia."