State Govt praised for institutionalizing funding for Chinese schools
KOTA KINABALU: United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) chairman Temenggong Datuk Vincent Lau Lee Ming has praised the Sabah State Government for having institutionalized funding for Chinese independent secondary schools and Chinese primary schools years ago.
At the same time, Lau hoped that the Sabah State Government would recognize the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) as soon as possible.
He said state governments in West Malaysia should emulate the Sabah Government’s move in institutionalizing funding for Chinese schools and including the allocation in the annual budget.
“Based on past practices, each school received RM230,000 from the State Government.
“This year, the Sabah State Government will allocate RM12 million from the state budget to vernacular schools.
“The institutionalized allocation to Chinese primary schools and Chinese independent high schools will ensure Chinese education continue to flourish in Sabah,” he said at the installation ceremony of the 19th United Association of Private Chinese Secondary School Committee Sabah (Sabah Dong Zong), 17th Sabah Chinese Primary School Working Committee and 12th Sabah Chinese Headmasters Activities Committee here on Sunday.
The guest of honor for the event was Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang.
On another note, Lau said Teo has been actively handling the matter of UEC recognition since October 2015 and has subsequently met with Sabah Dong Zong numerous times to discuss and compile information about UEC.
At present, Lau said the Sarawak government has granted recognition to UEC and allowed UEC qualification as entrance into the state’s civil service, while Universiti Selangor (Unisel) has also accepted UEC holders.
“Hence, I hope that the Sabah State Government will recognize UEC as soon as possible.”
He said doing so would enable UEC holders to enter public universities, thereby decreasing the outflow of foreign exchange. Additionally, Lau said giving recognition to UEC would prevent brain drain as the students could serve in government departments when they graduated from university.
He said the recognition of UEC by many top universities proved that the qualification met international standards.
“Many outstanding Chinese independent school students are employed by overseas and local companies, and hold important positions in organizations.
“The government should not ignore the contribution of these talents to our country,” he said.