KUCHING, Feb 9: The construction of the Yayasan Sarawak international secondary school in Sibu is expected to be completed in 2024.
Assistant Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government Michael Tiang said once completed, the school would be able to cater for up to 500 students, and 80 per cent of the students would be from the B40 group.
He emphasised that this initiative mooted by the State government is to provide free and quality secondary education using the Cambridge Syllabus to the people of Sarawak.
“That means students in the B40 group would be able to enrol in this school for free.
“The Sarawak government has also set aside 20 per cent of the quota for the non-B40 group with a school fee,” he said in a statement today following a courtesy call on Yayasan Sarawak director Mersal Abang Rosli yesterday.
Tiang added that the school would not only use English as the medium for teaching, but every student will also be required to take up Mandarin.
“Mandarin is the only (foreign language) option. This shows that our Sarawak government not only emphasises on English, but also wants the students to learn Mandarin because Mandarin is one of the major lingua franca in Asia,” he pointed out.
Tiang, who is also the Pelawan assemblyman, said the first of five Sarawak-owned international secondary schools will be established in Kuching and is expected to be ready in March this year.
During his meeting with Mersal, Tiang was informed that the Sarawak government is ready to spend RM15 million on each school.
“This is a huge commitment by the Sarawak government to give focus on human capital development. I believe this is part of the efforts to get back our education autonomy,” he added.
Tiang lauded the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government’s commitment to invest in the future of younger generations in making sure that they are well educated and more competitive globally. — DayakDaily
