By Marlynda Meraw
KUCHING, May 9: Sarawak is looking for continuity in terms of policies for regulations or amendments in the education statute as the next step for the Ministry of Education, Innovation, and Talent Development (MEITD) Sarawak in pursuing negotiations for devolution of power in education.
MEITD Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee said that the ministry and the Ministry of Education (MOE) at the federal level are trying to document the agreed upon contents of Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), especially the 15th point concerning education.
“To facilitate it (Point 15), we would like to translate it into a secular (sic) so that the implementation will be very smooth.
“We (MEITD) are also studying in depth whether these agreed upon points can be translated into any regulations or any form of amendments to the statute or any relevant statute so that there will be an adherence to what have been agreed, a continuity (to) what have been agreed,” said Dr Annuar during the fourth day of the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS) sitting at the DUS complex today.
He said that in the past, every time there is a change in government and minister, the policy will also change.
“With regards to MA63, we (MEITD) do not want that to happen anymore. There are some methods that is beyond the purview of the MOE, therefore, we would escalate these matters to higher authorities for their considerations,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Annuar also highlighted a previous area of concern which is the shortage of teachers. However, he reported that there has been a lot of momentum with regards to the filling of vacancies in Sarawak.
“In Sarawak, 94.5 per cent of the posts has been filled in primary schools and 98.9 per cent within secondary schools. God willing, it will be 100 per cent soon,” Dr Annuar said. — DayakDaily
