){kind=link}
Bangkok to employ Islamic teachers
The Cabinet has approved a proposal to employ more than 900 Islamic teachers in state schools in the five southernmost provinces, government's spokesman Dr Yongyuth Mayalarp.
The move was part of the latest effort by the government to accommodate the special needs of the MalayMuslims in the restive region where an ongoing insurgency has claimed more than 2,300 lives since January 2004.
The initiative will cost the government Bt107 million annually, he said.
For the past two years, about 300 public schools in the provinces were involved in a pilot project that has Islam, along with the Malay and Arabic languages, be taught alongside secular subjects. There are almost 2,000 public schools in the five provinces.
At the moment, all the Islamic teachers, known locally as ustaz, are hired on a temporary basis and are not entitle to benefits of government's civil servant.
Under the latest proposal, ustaz would become fully fledged government employees and entitled to the same benefits as stateschool teachers.
Besides the Islamic teachers, the Cabinet also approved a proposal to appoint deputy village chief in charge of security duties and details, Yongyuth siad.
//The Nation
