Early streaming of students good for state — Len Talif
MIRI: Sarawak can benefit from early streaming of students into academic and technical fields at the secondary school level.
Assistant Minister for Workforce Development and Training Datu Len Talif Salleh said it will enable the state to produce sufficient skilled manpower to meet the demands of the industries and augurs well for its human resource development.
Acknowledging that not all students can enter universities, he said those not academicallyinclined could now opt to enter technical education and vocational training (TVET) centres to learn skills useful for the industries.
For that matter, he lauded the Miri District Education office for assisting students to decide on their career pathway by providing the necessary information and advice through its Kemahiran Sinar Kecemerlangan ( KSK) programme.
The assistant minister advised students to be proficient in English to make it easier for them to be absorbed into the job market and because the language is the lingua franca of learning.
The assistant minister said this when officiating at the Karnival Kemahiran Sinar Kecemerlangan ( KSK) at the civic centre here on Tuesday. At the same time, he advised schools to seriously encourage their students to speak English among themselves.
Instead of laughing at them if they speak broken English, he said teachers should encourage them to improve and master the language.
“When I was studying in Australia, we ( Sarawakians) spoke better English than the Australians in the spoken grammatical context back then,” he said.
The first in the state, the KSK programme in Miri is organised by the district education office in collaboration with Miri Resident’s Office and Sarawak Skills Development Department. It is aimed at encouraging students who are less academically-inclined to take up TEVT courses.
A brainchild of Miri District education officer Dr Hassan Hasbolah, it was started in SMK Baru and has since been extended to 12 secondary schools in Miri, with over 320 students registering to undertake Malaysian Skills Certificate ( SKM) at five accredited centres.