A blueprint for preschool longhouse kids?
WE have been talking about National Education Blueprint for the past decade.
The latest is the blueprint on education for the deaf.
Incidentally, talking about children’s education in Malaysia, we should be better able to deal with related problems of ground implementation now that we possess two ministries in charge of the same thing; one at the federal level and the other based in Sarawak.
Why is Sabah not interested in sharing power and authority in matters relating to education, does anyone know?
A degree in sign language According to the federal deputy education minister, the ministry is in the midst of preparing a blueprint on special needs education.
Among the ‘vision’ for the deaf, he said, there would be “a recognised degree course in sign language education in local universities, deaf education in every state and a grading system for qualified sign language translators”.
Details of the blueprint have not been released.
Mention of “every state” logically includes Sarawak and Sabah. We shall hear all about the details of this course in due course, for Sarawak.
I would also like to hear about some blueprint for the preschool children living in the longhouses and remote settlements in the state. Again, for those preschool children in Sabah – are Sabahan parents happy with the situation as it is?
In the towns and cities such as Kuching and Sibu, one sees kindergartens and preschool classes in almost every housing estate; these are mostly privately financed and managed.
Also, there have been proposals to provide even cribs for preschool children of government servants and company employees –within sight and hearing of their working mothers.
Such is the measure of love and care for the children in terms of education that the government is prepared to do anything so that our children will get formal education as early as possible. Good thinking.
Of course, some of these facilities are obviously not practicable in the longhouses and the settlements. The government will have to step in with the necessary finance and teaching staff. ‘Employ’ the grannies – they are cheaper. At the moment these kids are many steps behind their town counterparts in terms of early formal education. As such, don’t talk about digital economy or of technology for the little darlings.
I’m pretty sure that our educators in both ministries have accorded this idea a thorough consideration when they deliberated on education blueprints. In fact, a few years back, there was a suggestion by a local politician in power that whenever a longhouse “is built in future, there will be built also a community hall, a church and a preschool”.
When I read about this, I wasn’t sure about the hall or the church; I was more interested in the practicality of preschool.
However, all that is in the past; the print is now blurred. It belongs to another era, under a former education minister. Ask no more about it.
Now that the state has a brand new ministry of education and an energetic minister, I hope that, perhaps, the preschool classes in the longhouses and the villages could be revisited by the policymakers, this time more seriously.
I like the statement made by the deputy federal minister. He said and I quote, “It is only fair for Malaysia to be called a developed nation when the country addresses the needs of the less privileged, the disadvantaged, and the marginalised.” Well said, YB.
The deaf, and I presume the other people with physical disabilities, will be taken care of, and hopefully the less privileged, the disadvantaged and the marginalised preschool children in Sarawak will have the chance to go to school at all levels – preschool, kindergarten, primary, secondary and, finally, tertiary.
Then we can talk about a fully developed Malaysia, and digital economy, digital technology, the rocketry science, and the machines with which to harvest the fresh fruit bunches of the oil palms.
If we are serious about the preschool classes in the rural areas, then we can start thinking about a pilot project. Will the education ministries help each other out in implementing this exercise?
Otherwise, the blueprint will become blurred print in so far as the preschool children in the rural areas are concerned. Just an idea Now that every Member of Parliament or State Assembly has been directed by the state ministry of education to adopt a school in his or her constituency for the purpose of encouraging the students there to speak English.
By the same token, why not direct every YB to adopt a preschool class in addition to the English-speaking school with the view to giving preschoolers a solid grounding before they go on to the primary school later.
It is my suggestion only – off the cuff and not having a thorough study of it beforehand. For what it is worth, it is hereby presented.
Right thinking I like the statement made by the state minister of education when he said prepare children with the right knowledge, right attitude, selfconfidence and spirit of patriotism for the country. Well said, Datuk Minister.
If you begin with the children in the cities, begin also in the rural areas; think of those preschool children and their future in society. And remember what the poet Alexander Pope said, “As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.”