KUCHING: The inaugural Sarawak Preschool International Convention 2021, which had a target attendance of 950 people, received an overwhelming response with over 1,000 people signing up.
The convention, which runs from Oct 1 to 3, was officially launched by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg virtually via Zoom and Facebook Live yesterday (Oct 2).
At the same time, Abang Johari also launched the ‘Sarawak Women in Early Childhood Care and Education’ coffee table book entitled ‘Sowing Seeds for the Future’ during the opening ceremony.
“The registered participants consist of not only local early childhood care and education (ECCE) teachers and caregivers, but also international participants from countries such as Japan, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, as well as West Malaysia.
“I am very proud of our preschool teachers, who are always keen to develop themselves professionally to be better teachers and caregivers,” said Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister, Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah at the launch of the convention yesterday (Oct 2).
During the convention, five internationally selected speakers will present their papers, while Sarawak preschool practitioners will share the outcomes of the pre-convention workshop earlier on June 29.
Respective speakers for the Sarawak Preschool International Convention 2021. 
Respective speakers for the Sarawak Preschool International Convention 2021. 
Respective speakers for the Sarawak Preschool International Convention 2021.
Among the five papers are ‘Early Childhood Education as the Basis for Human Character Building among Children’ by Dr Nurul Nadiah Sahimi (Malaysia); ‘The Challenges in Cultivating Noble Values during the Covid-19 Pandemic’ by Dr Christine Chen (Singapore); ‘Early Childhood Care and Education during the Covid-19 pandemic’ by Prof Emeritus Yoichi Sakakihara (Japan); ‘Cultivating the Value of Patriotism Among children During the Covid-19 Pandemic’ by Prof Dr Supriyono (Indonesia) and ‘The Challenges of Cultivating Moral Values During the Covid Pandemic-19’ by Dayang Sharifah Awang Suhaimi (Brunei).
“The theme of convention, ‘Character Building in the New Norm’ is in accordance with the objectives of equipping every child with the right values to help them adapt to the demands of the new norms,” said Fatimah.
She added that the character or personality of an individual was shaped by the moral and religious values they upheld.
“It is the dominant factor which will determine how a person use their knowledge (worldly or heavenly), skills (technical or social) for personal development or for the good of the community and mankind at large.
“Thus, it is important for parents and teachers to inculcate the right values in the children during their formative years. As the Malay saying goes by – ‘Melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya’,” she added in her speech.
