The uptake of insurance among the 230,000 teachers who are members of the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) in Peninsular Malaysia is low, with only 40 per cent subscribing to the protection scheme.
Its president, Aminuddin Awang, said that this shows teachers are still unaware of the importance of participating in the insurance scheme, even though it is designed to protect them from accidents or misfortunes.
"The insurance premium offered under NUTP is very low, starting at RM5, which is deducted monthly, but the benefits received can reach up to RM220,000 if anything untoward happens to them," he told reporters at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Jeram here today.
He made these remarks after the NUTP Insurance Benefit Cheque presentation, which was officiated by Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh and attended by the state deputy Education, Higher Education, and Religious Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Rosli Abdullah.
Aminuddin encouraged teachers nationwide, estimated at 430,000, to become NUTP members and contribute to the insurance scheme offered.
He also urged teachers, especially new ones who have yet to register as NUTP members, to join the union, which fights for teachers on issues of welfare, services, salaries, allowances and workload.
Earlier, at the ceremony, 11 teachers who were injured in an accident on the Kuantan-Segamat Road, Rompin, Pahang, on June 9 received a cash donation of RM500 each from NUTP.
Meanwhile, 56-year-old Zul Sham Mahat received a RM306,973.24 payout after his 52-year-old wife Dahlia Ahmad, who had contributed to the union’s insurance scheme, was among four teachers who were killed in an accident.
In the accident, 35 others were injured when their excursion bus, ferrying a group of school personnel from SK Jeram, Masjid Tanah, to Terengganu for a benchmarking programme, lost control and crashed into a trailer carrying steel coils.
The other fatalities were SK Jeram assistant headmaster Hasnatul Adilah Hassan, 48; the second bus driver, Hadi Asyraf Mad Idris, 29; and the school's operations assistant, Hamzah Ahmad, 60.
The bus, carrying 39 passengers, including two drivers, was reported to have overturned on a slope after losing control and colliding with the trailer.
Meanwhile, Zul Sham said he would use the insurance money wisely, including performing 'badal haji' (haj by proxy) for her, as she had expressed her desire to perform the haj before her death.
"I never expected that my late wife had contributed to insurance… all of this is God's will. I will first use the funds for the 'badal haji' and the rest for my children, including one special needs child, aged 14, with mild autism," said the retired bank officer.