Budget 2018, which focuses on rural development and the development of digital economy, truly reflects the Government’s commitment to ensure a balanced development in overall efforts to raise the level of the growth of the economy towards the year 2030 and beyond.
It conforms to the belief that only through education the people can move upward socio-economic ladder and the development of the State.
Education as the great equaliser, for example, enables people to seize opportunities to prosper in life and puts “virtual income” into pockets of poor families.
For this reason, the State Government has set up the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research Sarawak, to improve the standard of education in the State. The Ministry, since its establishment on May 7, 2017, in collaboration with State Education Department, has embarked on several activities and programs to improve the standard of education in the State.
It’s Minister, Dato Sri Michael Manyin Anak Jawong in his speech in winding on the debate on the budget during the last sitting of the State Legislative Assembly said it is important that school children and teachers must be provided with the environment that is conducive for teaching and learning.
Regrettably, a total of 1,020 out of 1,454 schools in Sarawak are in dilapidated conditions; 415 of them are categorized as critically dilapidated. He said his Ministry is focusing on 415 dilapidated schools, of which 205 schools will be rebuilt or upgraded under the 11th Malaysia Plan.
The remaining 210 schools will be rebuilt or upgraded under the special funding of RM1 billion of National Budget 2018. The schools will be rebuilt during the period 2018/2019.
Sarawak is extremely grateful to the Prime Minister, Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak for allocating RM1 billion to address the problems of dilapidated schools.
This huge sum of money has never been allocated to Sarawak before. He said another major challenge that Sarawak has to deal with is the problem of low enrolment schools with 651 of them within the system.
In developed countries like New Zealand, Ireland and Finland, small schools are beautiful. They have several advantages particularly in terms of closer interaction between students and teachers. These schools are provided with all the necessary facilities and have resources the same as bigger schools.
A typical of low enrolment school in a developing nation like Malaysia in Sarawak in particular, faces several problems such as:
• Budget allocation by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to a school is based on the number of students it has). Low enrolment of students receives lower budget allocation resulting in lack of necessary facilities, resources and poor maintenance,
• Classes with very few students do not provide a competitive environment. There are 417 schools that have 10 or less number students sitting for UPSR and
• Teachers have to teach subjects they are not trained for. In this case, a Bahasa Melayu teacher has to teach Mathematics, English or Science or vice versa.
This results in the poor performance of students, who lose their interests in the subjects especially in Science and Mathematics, where students have to be taught using proper methods during the formative years. For the past three (3) years, Sarawak has been ranked poorly in public examinations. In UPSR, Sarawak was ranked 12th and 15th in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.
In SPM, Sarawak was ranked 15th out of the 16th for 2014, 2015 and 2016. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research together with Sarawak Education Department, have identified 357 low enrolment schools throughout the State that can be merged into 126 centralised schools.
However, merging of schools and the final number of centralised schools created will entirely depend on the outcome of engagement with affected communities.
Therefore, efforts must be made to explain the benefits of merging low enrolment schools to all those concerned for the sake of their children’s future. The cur rent enrolment of Science stream students in upper secondary classes in schools is only 23%.
This is of very serious concern as 80% of the jobs being created by Industrial Revolution 4.0 will be science and engineering based. The contributing factors for the low number of students in science stream include:
• Too many low enrolment schools where science and mathematics are taught by non option teachers whereby in certain cases, teachers may be forced to teach the subjects. Often these teachers may use unsuitable methodology and approaches, which kill the students’ interest at early stage,
• Low enrolment schools do not have facilities and resources such as Science Lab for the teaching of science and mathematics,
• A strong foundation in science and mathematics can only be inculcated by building the students’ interest in and appreciation for the subject taught at the formative years; it is too late to start at secondary level,
• The Department of Education Sarawak is actively pursuing centralization of low enrolment schools with the primary objective to place option of specialist teachers, provide necessary facilities such as STEM and science laboratories allocate better teaching and learning resources and create learning environment that is more competitive and conducive amongst students. In this regards the Ministry will also conduct programmes to train master trainers, who can help to improve the quality of teaching of teachers in specific subjects such Mathematics, Science, English and Bahasa Melayu.
Dato Seri Michael Manyin said his Ministry will target to build new schools or upgrade existing schools in every rural constituency under the RM1 billion funding. Where it involves the merger of low enrolment schools, approval from parents will be sought before a decision to merge them.
The Federal Government, in the 2017 budget, announced to rebuild 120 dilapidated schools nationwide using Industrialised Building System (IBS) as well as the upgrading of 1,800 science labs with an allocation of RM570 million.
Of this RM570 million, Sarawak has been allocated RM84,880,000 to rebuild 30 dilapidated schools using IBS technology and a further RM29.7 million to upgrade 120 science labs in 39 schools. In addition to the above, RM49.5 million was allocated for Special Maintenance Project (PPK) under the Ministry of Education.
Dato Seri Michael Manyin said his Ministry, in collaboration with State Education Department has identified four labs on dilapidated schools participated by officers from relevant government departments and agencies. The labs identified 76 schools covering all rural constituencies as priority to be addressed; 21 of them will be made centralised schools.
He said SMK Serian has been proposed for upgrading and the scope includes replacement of 24 classrooms, six teachers’ quarters, upgrading and building new hostels to accommodate 800 students (400 boys and 400 girls) and a new dining hall (300 students). This is subject to availability of funds. The project for SMK Serian No. 2 has been approved under Rolling Plan 1 of the 11th Malaysia Plan.
The new school will consist of 36 classrooms, hostels for 400 students, 11 units of teacher’s quarters and other facilities. He said the project of SK Sri Sadong, approved under the 11th Malaysia Plan, will consist of 12 classrooms and other facilities. The site has been approved and a consultant has been appointed. The project is at the design stage.
He said there is no plan to have Form 6 classes in SMK Sedaya as there are already four Form Six classes available at nearby SMK Kanowit. Both SMK Katibas and SMK Song each have science stream classes though the number of students is very small. SMK Song has 17 Form 4 students and 20 Form 5 science students while SMK Katibas has eight Form 4 and ten Form 5 science students. Currently, SK Ba’kelalan, SK Long Semadoh, SK Long Luping and SK Long Sukang are feeder schools for SMK Trusan.
These schools produce only 60-70 Form One students annually. Hence, it is not feasible to have a new secondary school in Long Semadoh. Current enrolment of SMK Trusan is only 619 against its capacity of 840. Dato Seri Michael Manyin said the merging of schools will only be finalised after consultation with the community involved. In this regard, centralised schools will be equipped with classrooms, computer and science laboratories, hostels (where required), sports facilities and internet connectivity (where possible).
The Federal Government has decided to close the IPG Sarawak, Miri and IPG, Rajang, Bintangor and convert them into TVET centres. The State Government has agreed that IDG Miri will be converted into a Polytechnic but for IPG Rajang, it will explore optimal use before it can make a viable proposal to the Federal Government. The total number of Sarawakian Trainee Teachers is 784 (71%) while the Non Sarawakian is 323 (29%) in the four (4) IPGs.
The current composition of Sarawakian teachers in schools as at 30th October 2017 is as follows: Primary schools – 84.2% and secondary school – 88.2%. The definitions of Sarawakian Teachers are: Sarawak-born teachers; Teachers whose spouses are Sarawakians; and Non-Sarawakians, who have been serving in Sarawak for more than 20 years and have bought houses in Sarawak.
However, after February 2017, it was decided to exclude Non-Sarawakians, who have been serving in Sarawak for more than 20 years and have bought houses in the state. There are already several initiatives towards enhancing proficiency in English Language undertaken by the Ministry of Education Malaysia. The initiatives focus on teacher’s professional development such as Professional up-skilling of English Language Teachers (ProELT) and Schools Support Plan (SSP).
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research, which has organised Sarawak English Language Education Symposium participated by 1,200 teachers throughout the State, will explore other initiatives to support teachers.
Dato Seri Michael Manyin said while his Ministry cannot dictate policies and the overall direction of development of Education in the State, it can complement and supplement efforts of the State Education Department to raise the standard of Education in the State. Moreover, as a Ministry, it can project the needs Sarawak more effectively to the Federal Ministry. Its voice will have more influence than individual voices of education officers in highlighting the State’s needs. Sarawak will have leverage to deal with Putrajaya at Ministerial level.
The demand for high quality workforce, that is creative and innovative and equipped with relevant knowledge and skill, will continue to rise as Sarawak socio-economic development gathers pace and industrial and commercial activities become more diversified. Therefore, it is imperative that students that leave schools after completing their SPM examinations must continue their studies at tertiary levels or undertake accredited technical and vocational skills training in relevant areas.
In this regards, the Stat e Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research, in collaboration with relevant agencies such as TEGAS, has embarked Careers to local youth. These include the annual Sarawak Career and Training Fair (SCaTFair), Training and Industry Awareness Program (TRIA) and Mobile Youth Transformation through Vocational Training (MYTV). However, a lot more needs to be done to improve the perception of parents and Students, who still regard TVET as having low social status, poor career prospects, and generally associated with low achievers.
Consequently, about 10,000 to 12,000 SPM school leavers enter the job market without attaining any skills as they see little benefit in doing so. These students, if they are trained, can contribute to the pool of skilled workers that are needed to drive economic development. They can also become be self-reliant and skill based entrepreneurs that create jobs for themselves and for others.
The State Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research Ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia, has organised the first ever World Skills Malaysia Sarawak 2017 Competition. The main objective is to elevate the status of skills training and showcase the value of skills training and provide recognition for skilled workers.
The competition provided a platform to challenge skilled trainees and skilled workers to be the best in the trade. A total of 209 contenders from 38 institutions competed in 11 skills categories. Some of the winners will be selected to represent Sarawak at the national level competition. Ideally, a significant portion of the training should take place in industries.
Therefore, it is necessary to locate these institutions closer to industrial centres rather than locating new institutions in rural areas where interactions with industry will be difficult. It is more sensible to develop those that are already available in urban centres so that they can provide better facilities, attract experienced trainers and expose students to a more competitive learning environment.
Dato Seri Michael Manyin said, based on the study by UNIMAS, SCORE would create 1.3 million new jobs by 2030. As at 30th September 2017, there are ten companies already operating within SCORE. In total, these companies have generated 6,285 jobs of which 3,414 or 54% of the vacancies are filled by locals. Besides, four companies with potential to generate 3,475 jobs are in various stages of construction.
Further investments from eight other companies have been approved and this is expected to generate 3,866 jobs. SCORE, which places greater focus on the development of small and medium industries (SMEs), will be the main creator of new jobs.
In the long term, the number of jobs generated directly or indirectly as a result of SCORE will be substantial and will have significant impact on the economy of Sarawak. One of the main objectives of setting up Sarawak Research and Development Council is to coordinate efforts of various agencies and institutions undertaking research in Sarawak and not to conduct any research of its own.
Hence, there is no issue of duplication and redundancy. In fact, Sarawak Research and Development Council will remove duplication and streamline efforts to optimize resources. Sarawak Research and Development Council will also help to commercialize the outcomes of the R&D done in the State. The Ministry, in drafting Sarawak Research and Development Council Ordinance, had several engagements with research agencies, universities and other relevant stake holders to obtain inputs and comments from them.
Therefore, the Ordinance is the product of all these inputs. However, it is a fact that both developed countries such Israel, US, Japan, Germany and South Korea as well as developing countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Cyprus, Bot swana and the Philippines are investing in R&D as they recognize the importance of developing R&D capability in order to progress.
Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan did not wait until they become developed countries before investing in R&D. Instead, their investment in R&D has been an important factor that has propelled them to become developed countries. The State’s R&D will focus on utilising rich biodiversity and natural resources to bring value and benefit to the State. The Biovalley Park to be managed by Curtin University Malaysia has been completed. Rectification works are currently ongoing under the Defects Liability Period. The facility will be fully operational towards the middle of 2018.
