TEBEDU: Education, Science and Technological Research Minister, Datuk Seri Michael Manyin Jawong has urged parents and community leaders in the district to reconsider allowing the building of a centralised school.
He said during a recent dialogue between the district education office and local residents, only 26 percent supported the proposal of closing the smaller schools to make way for a centralised school.
“RM25 million has been allocated to build a centralised school near Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Tebedu. Once the centralised school is built, all nearby schools will be closed down and all students will be transferred to the centralised school.
“Unfortunately, most parents and associated members of these smaller schools rejected the proposal,” he said at the opening ceremony of Landskap Bandar Mutiara Tebedu here last Saturday evening (Sept 5).
Manyin revealed that a final dialogue would be held on Sept 26 with the parents and parent-teacher association chairmen from 10 villages in the area to convince them to accept the proposal.
“We want to appeal to parents here to accept the building of a centralised school.
“This is because these smaller schools, even though they recorded 100 percent passing rates among the students, do not have good results,” he said, emphasising that the quality of students should be put first before the quantity.
At the centralised school, Manyin said students would be taught by teachers specifically trained for the subjects they taught.
He added that in the smaller schools, most teachers were forced to teach other subjects due to the lack of teachers.
“In a survey conducted here in Tebedu, it was found that only two or three students per village have graduated with degrees, diplomas or certificates.
“In the areas of Penrissen, Padawan, and Bau, a village will have around 200 to 300 graduates.
“Therefore, I urge all parents and community leaders to prioritise the education of our children,” said Manyin.
