Minister: Sarawak mulls establishing state vocational school for OKUs

KUCHING: Sarawak is considering the setting up of a state-owned vocational school or training centre so that individuals with disabilities (OKUs) could pursue post-Form 5 studies locally.

In stating this, Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah says currently, OKU students wishing to attend vocational education would have to go to Kuala Lumpur as there is no institution providing these studies here.

“Understandably, not many parents are willing to part with their children and have them crossing the South China Sea to further their studies, as they worry about their children's safety.

“We had previously applied to the Ministry of Education to set up a vocational school for OKU students for the eastern region (Sarawak and Sabah) so that they wouldn't need to cross the (South China) Sea.

“This was agreed in principle, before the Pakatan Harapan took over the federal government (in 2018) – after that, there has been no news about it,” she told reporters when met after handing over the ‘Welfare Volunteer Organisations Grant' to the Society for the Blind in Malaysia Sarawak Branch here yesterday.

“So, we have made a decision to set up the vocational school for OKUs in Sarawak, but we have not decided if it would be a school, or a complex for OKU training.

“If it's a vocational school, there are a few things that we need to do first like obtaining permission from federal government. If we do it (as a) state-owned (institution), it would be different, and we are discussing it.”

Fatimah said the discussion would include the category of the school, which courses slated for which type of disabilities, and the concept – adding that all these aspects must be agreed upon first.

On the type of courses, she said it would be open for the OKUs themselves to suggest, in that some of them might be interested in sports, while others might be inclined towards arts or other fields.

“Thus, there's a gap that needs to fill as the OKUs have the options of mainstream schooling, intervention and now vocational studies, once they have completed Form 5,” she said.

According to Fatimah, currently the OKUs receive training for massages/ reflexology in Kuala Lumpur and upon completion of the course, they could apply the skills to earn a living.