By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Nov 8: The Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government wants to reform the education system in Sarawak so that students would not have to suffer from education mismatch including at higher education level that would leave them as unemployed graduates.
Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg noted that students fighting to enter public universities in Malaysia may not be given the course of their choice which could affect their career path later upon graduation.
“At the moment, students have to apply through UPU (Central University Admission Unit) to enter public universities. Some are accepted, some are rejected. But even those accepted, they may be given the course they are not keen on in the first place.
“If you want to study engineering, you are given social science (due to limited places or other factors). This is what happened, leaving them with no option (as enrolling in private universities may be unaffordable).
“When the jobs are not available in social sciences, they become unemployed graduates. This is the system we are facing but the GPS government wants to reform the education (system) in Sarawak,” he said when officiating at a function at Riam Hill International Secondary School in Miri today.
Now that the Sarawak government owns four universities and one training centre in the State, Abang Johari emphasised that Sarawakian students will not be tied down by UPU, but have better access to not only higher learning institutions closer to home but courses of their choice.
These institutions are are Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Curtin University Malaysia, University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) and i-Cats University College, while the training centre is Centre of Technical Excellence Sarawak (Centexs).
“This reflects the government’s seriousness when it comes to talent development with education being one of the important sectors under Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030,” he added.
Apart from that, Abang Johari pointed out, the government is setting up residential international schools so that they are within the reach of the people, including lower- and middle-income families.
“So that, (children of) farmers and fishermen also have the chance to study in international schools (through scholarships) and subsidies fees.
“This is what the government is doing. One of them is to establish international schools that use international syllabus. Miri is fortunate to have Riam Hill International School which uses Cambridge syllabus which will open the pathway to any renowned university in the world,” he said.
With Sarawak, which is rich in natural resources, now in transition to the new and green economy, Abang Johari emphasised that Sarawak will need more human capital which matches the new economy.
“I believe Riam (Hill International) Secondary school will provide that talent to change our economy,” he said.
DUN Speaker Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar, Deputy Premier Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, Minister of Transport Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin, Deputy Minister of Tourism Datuk Sebastian Ting, Miri Mayor Adam Yii, Riam Road Private Secondary School board of directors chairman Dato Sri Law Kiu Kiong, and Riam Education Group executive chairman Prof Madya Dr Pauline Ho among those present. — DayakDaily
