SPAOH: Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah has lauded the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) move to delegate authority to the Director of the Education Department (JPNS) to approve projects funded by the Sarawak government.
Uggah said that through this move, the state Education director can now approve school projects funded by the state government or any other party besides the federal government, allowing politicians to help with school maintenance or upgrading projects.
The document delegating the authority to JPNS Director Datuk Dr Azhar Ahmad was handed over by Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and witnessed by state Minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah on Feb 22.
Uggah said that previously, politicians would have to get permission from the MoE in Putrajaya to do so.
Citing a case, he said he had donated several units of air conditioners for a school hall here on the request of the school principal, but after they were delivered, they had to be kept in the school storeroom for quite some time and could not be installed pending MoE approval.
“I am very happy with the approval as we are all very ready to help our schools. This is because we view education as absolutely important for our future generation to deal with future challenges well.
“Now, in our case too, we have some funds from the development allocation given to the Betong Division Development Agency. It can be used to help our schools, especially for those urgent requests,” he said before presenting 940 school bags to students from seven schools in Bukit Saban constituency here Saturday (Mar 9).
The “Back to School” programme was jointly funded by him and Betong Member of Parliament Dr. Richard Rapu, and the bags were received by the respective school heads, teachers, or chairmen of their parent-teacher associations.
Meanwhile, Uggah, when met by reporters, said that he wanted all primary schools in his constituency to resolve the problem of students who were still unable to read, write, or calculate even after six years of studying.
“We have received feedback on such a situation. So, I have told the headmasters and members of the parent-teacher’s associations to resolve any such issue within these two or three years.
“One such school, Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Nanga Gayau, has resolved this problem well. Some of its students who could not read, write, or do simple calculations previously can now perform them,” he said.
Later, he and Dr. Richard visited SK Nanga Tiga and a few longhouses which were affected by soil erosion after days of heavy rain recently.
