By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Feb 7: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg announced that a special committee has been set up to oversee the interests of vernacular Chinese schools in the state to be headed by Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
“I have formed a special committee under Prof Dr Sim for us to assist vernacular Chinese schools in the state, meaning any development of Chinese schools will go to this committee.
“Similar to Unifor (Unit For Other Religions), then I’ll keep a special budget for them to help the Chinese schools,” he said at the Chap Goh Meh dinner organised by Kuching Chung Hua Primary 1-6 Management Committee held at SJK Chung Hua No. 4’s school hall tonight.
Abang Johari also announced a RM1 million increase from last year’s RM8 million, making it RM9 million in total allocation for Chinese schools in Sarawak for this year.
“All these are because we want to give good education for our children. They must have the latest knowledge particularly in technology in order to move forward as the world is changing and evolving faster than ever,” he said.
He pointed out that the state government was setting up five international schools in Sarawak to provide quality education to children using international syllabus.
“In addition, we are also teaching Science and Mathematics in English so that we are able to grasp the new knowledge. We don’t want a flip flop policy in our education,” he added.
He acknowledged that Chung Hua schools and the state policy complemented each other well to enable Sarawak to play a greater role globally.
“With our children having multilingual skills, this combination makes hybrid Sarawakians who can play a significant role in the world economy because we need the right talents among our young generation,” he added.
Abang Johari also commended SJK Chung Hua No. 4 for setting up the first e-classroom or smart classroom which he launched earlier on.
“The smart classroom is good for teachers and students. Technology is a very important part of everyone’s daily life and also in the development of our state. Even rural people now recognise the importance of technology,” he added.
He thus pledged to assist in getting more funding to set up 36 e-classrooms for Chinese schools, which was estimated would cost about RM720,000, as requested by organising chairman Jonathan Chai.
“With all the initiatives in place, Sarawak has a bright future so long as the people are united and we look after ourselves while monitoring what’s happening outside.
“More importantly, we must create and give the right environment to our community in Sarawak to move forward,” he concluded. —DayakDaily
