Compiled by C. ARUNO and JO TIMBUONG CHINESE educationist groups and educators have urged the government to look into the shortage of teachers for vernacular schools, including Tamil schools, in the wake of the Education Ministry’s announcement that it was hiring 18,000 schoolteachers this year. Sin Chew Daily quoted Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon (pic) as saying he has had meetings with groups including Dong Zong, Jiao Zong, the Chinese Language Council, the National Union of Heads of Schools and the Malaysian Conforming Secondary Schools Principals Council since the announcement was made last week, to discuss the perennial staffing problems faced by schools in the country.