Ministries documenting points into circular for education autonomy, says Dr Annuar
KUCHING: The Ministry of Education (MoE) and Sarawak Ministry of Education, Innovation and Talent Development (MEITD) are currently documenting agreedupon points, which the state presented to the federal government, into a circular, said Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee.
The Education, Innovation and Talent Development Deputy Minister said the state government has presented 15 very comprehensive points to the federal government as part of Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) negotiations for the devolution of power in education.
This is within the framework of the ambit of Paragraph 17 of the Inter-Governmental Commi ee (IGC) Report 1962.
“We aim to translate these into a circular for smooth implementation.
“We are also exploring the possibility of incorporating these points into regulations or relevant statutes to ensure continuity regardless of changes in leadership or government,” he said.
He was responding to a question posed by Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing (GPS-Meradong) regarding the status of the devolution of education autonomy to the Sarawak government.
Dr Annuar said there has been significant progress in the negotiation process.
“The state education director has been given the authority to approve any state governmentfunded project in Sarawak, in other words, the approval does not have to go through Putrajaya anymore and this will definitely improve the process and facilitate the implementation of projects funded by the state government.
“I am sure you will be happy to hear this because a lot of the RTP (rural transformation project) and MRP (minor rural project) projects are being slowed down because of the bureaucracy,” he said.
Dr Annuar said the state Education director is also allowed to approve any educational activities or programmes funded by the state government.
“Having said that, we have been allowed to extend the use of English as a medium of instruction in both primary and secondary schools, particularly for subjects like additional mathematics, biology, physics, and chemistry,” he said.
The negotiation also includes provision for the state government to participate in school project planning, assess dual language programmes, and receive increased funding for teacher development programmes.
“What’s more important is now the state government is allowed to share or to access the data within the Ministry of Education, crucial for implementing datadriven projects successfully,” he said.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank MoE for their friendly, cordial, and accommodating approach in our negotiation for more devolution of power to the state government.”
Regarding the areas of concern in the negotiation under MA63, Dr Annuar addressed the teacher shortage issue in Sarawak, noting there has been significant progress in filling posts.
“For primary schools, we have filled 94.5 per cent of posts, and for secondary schools, 98.9 per cent.
“We are commi ed to reaching 100 per cent soon,” he added.