A look into interests, needs of state’s mission schools
KUCHING: A committee mainly to look into the interests and needs of mission schools in Sarawak will be formed soon.
These mission schools comprise the various Christian denominations in the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said he had discussed with Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg on the problems faced by mission schools here in the Land of Hornbills.
“The chief minister then asked us to set a committee in Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) to specially look at the needs of the mission schools,” he said when speaking at a ceremony to hand over Unifor’s additional grant of RM1.5 million for the construction of the Diocese of Kuching’s House of Epiphany at St. Thomas Cathedral today.
Uggah, who is also the minister in-charge of Unifor, said as there was already a committee formed to look after the Chinese vernacular schools under Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian, now Unifor will also look into mission schools.
“Mission schools played a very important role in the education of Sarawakians in the past, as they do today and in future.
“I was studying in mission schools until Form 6 including the other state leaders. So, our state government feels that we need to help, we need to assist these schools,” the Bukit Saban assemblyman said.
He said just like government aided schools, the mission schools need the full support of the federal government too.
“So, I have just informed the churches, and by next week we are going to have a meeting (on the committee).
“We will include representatives from the respective churches such as the Anglican, Methodist and Catholic to sit with us, so that we can identify the needs of the mission schools throughout Sarawak, and then present our request to the chief minister hoping that he can consider our request” he said.
Unifor will continue to play its role to support the infrastructure development of the non-Islamic religions in Sarawak, added Uggah.
“In future, the churches together with Unifor could also work together in organising activities to ensure there is a regular flow of resources in order to assist the churches in the state,” he said.
In the meantime, he hoped the churches in the state will continue to play their part in cementing unity in Sarawak, bringing people together and hold discussion if any issue arises.
“You can see that all over the world, there are conflicts, disagreements, quarrels, and all these are preventable as what we have done in Sarawak.
“Unifor is conducting several discussions with the various religious groups trying to bridge where there can be a problem. Problems arise time over time, especially with the social media that we have, the messages from the other corners of the world can reach us in seconds, and some of those message are indeed challenging.
“So, I hope members of the churches before coming into any conclusion, before responding to the provocative positing on social media, study it carefully first, and if necessary discuss it with us so that we can find out how to handle that particular issue,” said Uggah.
Also present were Unifor director Richard Lon and Bishop of Anglican Church in Sarawak and Brunei, Right Reverend Datuk Danald Jute.
