BY NATASHA JEE & ALEXANDRA LORNA
BINTULU: Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg has emphasised on the importance of having an open education policy.
He said the nation’s education policy should not be excessively narrow.
“At the state level, we are setting up five international schools and it will be using Cambridge syllabus, meaning it places importance on the English language.
“English is very important. In Article 161 of the Federal Constitution, Sarawak has the right to use the English language.
“Therefore, what is important is that the education policy cannot be too narrow. It must be open because people need access to gain knowledge.”
He said this in a press conference after the handover and launching ceremony of the Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) Bintulu Campus on Wednesday (Nov 1).
Abang Johari, who is also the Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus pro-chancellor, also said it was important to train and prepare human resources on the new technology.
“The vice-chancellor of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne had shared with me about space travel.
“In the next 20 years, for all you know, space travel is just like traveling to Sibu, or to Kuala Lumpur, with the new technology,” he explained.
It was previously reported that Sarawak is looking at the feasibility of offering aerospace courses through one of its state-owned universities, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus.
Abang Johari said the university could work together with its counterpart Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, to offer such courses.
“We have an advantage because we have our university colleagues in Australia, and now Australia has a new field called Aerospace.
“God willing, next year, I will visit Swinburne Melbourne Campus to see whether or not we can work together to offer this new discipline,” he said.
