KUCHING: The idea to set up more public preschools and kindergartens in urban areas will definitely help ease the financial burden of families living in major towns.
Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Women chief Kho Teck Wan said currently, most of the preschools were run by private entities which required parents to pay school fees.
“There are not many government-run preschools or kindergarten, which usually operate and are located in the primary school compound. Thus, there is a need to increase such education facilities, to ease the financial burden of urban families,” she told New Sarawak Tribune.
Kho was commenting on the Education Ministry’s recent statement to look into the shortage of government-run preschools and kindergartens in urban areas. Its minister, Fadhlina Sidek, said the ministry was aware of the need to increase both early childhood education facilities.
Apart from that, Kho said, setting more preschools and kindergartens within the primary school compound would allow families with more children of different age groups to be sent or dropped at the same location, which will help ease traffic congestion in urban areas.
“It is more convenient, saves time and transportation costs. In addition, the transitioning period from preschool or kindergarten to primary school may be easier for young children (to adapt), if the schools are in the same compound,” he added.
However, Pertubuhan Pembangunan Insan Sarawak chairperson Manjeet Sidhu said the focus should not be in the urban areas as the rural and remote villages also lacked public preschools and kindergarten.
“We do not want our rural children to be left out, we want them to have the access to quality and free (government-run) early childhood education as well,” she said.
She said the population in the rural areas was usually scattered around compared to urban areas, thus, a preschool or a kindergarten could be set up in a strategic location, which couldcater to between two and four villages.
“The Education Ministry must also look into providing trained teachers or educators, a holistic learning environment with sufficient equipment,” she said.
“There is no point to set up or increase these education facilities if they cannot operate smoothly with high quality, constantly facing shortage of educators or other equipment due to financial constraints. Thus, there must be a systematic or annual allocation set aside for these programmes,” she stressed.
She opined that to increase the number of government-run early childhood education centres, whether with a minimal fee or free-of-charge, would ease the burden of many M40 and B40 families, especially those with more than a child.
“Besides, providing free access to quality education can help to curb poverty,” she said.
