theborneopost.com
Stressing their role
Samuel Aubrey, reporters@theborneopost.com
Manyin
(second right) hands over education incentive to Cheris Weilton, who
did well in his Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) last year.
SERIAN:
Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Dato Sri Michael
Manyin Jawong has proposed for primary schools to be renamed as
‘sekolah utama’ (main school), to reflect their importance in the
formative years of children aged seven to 12.
According to him,
the present term ‘sekolah rendah’, which translates as ‘lower school’,
may indicate that such schools are ‘not so important’, which may explain
why there are many dilapidated primary schools, due to lack of both
attention and financial assistance.
“If I had the power, I would
change the term (‘sekolah rendah’) to ‘sekolah utama’. This is to
signify its importance, so that more funds could be allocated to these
schools and only teachers with better qualifications would be sent
there,” he said during the annual dinner hosted by SK Krusen
parent-teacher association (PTA) at Kampung Krusen Kranji on Saturday.
Manyin,
who is Tebedu assemblyman, said the English term ‘primary school’ had
already indicated the school’s importance in the education and
development of young children.
He disclosed that during a recent
study trip to China, he saw that the primary schools there had already
emphasised moulding the children to face the challenges of the 21st
century.
He said the trend was the same in Europe, where similar
importance was placed on primary schools and only teachers with Master’s
degree qualification would be recruited to teach the children.
“Maybe
this is where Malaysia has not been doing it right, by not prioritising
primary schools. But, we still have time to rectify this,” he pointed
out.
On a related matter, Manyin said he would not stop talking
about education matters, and he would continue to advise the people
especially those in the rural areas to make sure that their children do
well in their studies. He pointed this out because he believed that
education remained the key to break out of the poverty cycle.
On his part, he said he would find ways to improve facilities at schools.
He
also said he was aware of personal attacks made against him via social
media, especially on Facebook, by those who mocked his style and
approaches.
“I think on Facebook, there could be more than 1,000
comments asking me to stop being a ‘YB’ (elected representative), saying
that I could not perform my job and so on.
“As YBs, it is normal
for us to receive comments by those who think they know better. But I
can tell you this – they can only make comments but they would not be
able to do this job, if it were to be given to them,” he said.
Nonetheless,
Manyin was still concerned about the bad habit of many locals – those
mocking and looking down on others who wanted to do something good for
the community.
Later at the dinner event, Manyin pledged a government grant of RM300,000 for upgrading and repair works on SK Krusen.
Serian
district officer Lim Hock Meng, Serian District Council deputy chairman
Dr Simon Sinang Bada and Serian District Council secretary Constantine
Noeb were among the guests.
My comments:
It is
definitely not the name “sekolah rendah ” that has been responsible for the
poor facilities and dilapidated conditions of many rural schools in Sarawak and
Sabah. The neglect and irresponsible
Sarawak and Sabah governments and so called Federal government which has never cared to fulfill
their responsibilities and promises should be the focus to discuss.
What they only care is the votes for them to win in the elections. Hence the deplorable and appalling conditions we
bear witness now is the work of irresponsible persons and abuses of so-called representatives,
be they who represent Sarawak or Sabah government or so called “national assembly”. They have fooled the rural people with empty
promises which they renew every time before an election.
It is
idiotic to blame the name “sekolah rendah” to be responsible for the cause of
deplorable and appalling conditions of these schools. Are ‘sekolah menangah’ with the name which
seems so much loftier any better?
Please
don’t waste any resources to change the name of ‘sekolah rentah’ to ‘sekolah
utama’. Calculate how much costs will
incur for the change of the name. Save
the unnecessary waste for more constructive use for the betterment of these
schools.
Is each
BN minister in each constituency given RM5 million a year for RTP? How much does each BN minister care to give
out for repair and development? This is
the Big question that rural people should learn to ask.
