KUCHING: Some 200 parents from Petra Jaya parlimentaryconstituency took part in the ‘Parenting Workshop’ held at Yayasan Sarawak at Jalan Sultan Tengah here, yesterday.
The objectives of the workshop were to create a continuation of early childhood education in kindergarten and at home; to provide awareness to parents and caregivers on the importance of the development of children aged zero to six years; to increase parents understanding of their roles and responsibilities towards their children; to provide knowledge and skills to parents to diversify their children’s early childhood learning; and to reveal the importance of providing healthy and balanced diet for the physical and mental development of children.
Minister of Works Datuk Seri Haji Fadillah Yusof, who is also Member of Parliament for Petra Jaya, officiated at the closing ceremony of the workshop.
Fadillah called on the parents to improve their parenting skills by reading as this was the best way to produce young people to be knowledgeable and skilled and with good manners.
“When we have learned and mastered something, then we are happy to practise it and teach our children.
“In developed countries, most parents will learn along with their children, even when their child is still unborn. Parents also practise Mathematics exercises,” he said, adding that reading was a good way to foster relationship in a family.
According to KEMAS Officer Lindawati Padiel, Petra Jaya constituency has 1,040 children getting their early childhood education in Kemas nurseries and kindergartens.
“In line with current development, several transformations have been made in the curriculum that we use.
“Still maintaining the Preschool Curriculum Standard (KSPK) at nursery-level and also the Permata Q curriculum at kindergarten-level, some aspects of the value added module have been highlighted,” she pointed out.
The first transformation was the implementation of Islamic Education Appreciation module or PPI in all KEMAS kindergartens where it is held for an hour after class with the consent of the parents, and adopted two main aspects, namely the Quran and Ibadah.
The second transformation was the patriotism module, which emphasised patriotism and love for the country so that the younger generations would not forget about the history and struggles of freedom fighters in the independence of the country, thus fostering good values in shaping the identity of children.
The next transformation was TBT which is focusing on 3C concept namely IQ literacy, IT literacy and the Quran literacy (celik IQ, celik IT dan celik Al-Quran).
“The first pilot project this year involves 46 classes across the country and in Sarawak, the project involves Kemas Tabika Taman Sepakat Jaya in Kuching,” said Lindawati.
