CM: Appointment of state education minister to enhance emphasis on education

KUCHING: The decision to appoint the first minister in charge of education in Sarawak was because the state government could no longer wait for Putrajaya to provide the best schooling facilities for the state.

Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said his appointment of Dato Sri Michael Manyin as the minister to look after education in Sarawak was to enhance the state government’s emphasis on education.

He explained that having a minister holding a watching brief on matters pertaining to education, as practiced previously, is not enough for Sarawak.

“We want somebody who is given the political mandate to deal with education in Sarawak and to deal with Putrajaya (federal government). With a person in charge of education, we want to provide the best facilities for education in Sarawak, especially for our rural schools which are often in very bad shape.

“We want to be able to say to Putrajaya: ‘We build our schools first and bill you later’. We just cannot wait for Putrajaya to build rural schools as sometimes they do not have enough funds,” he said at the fund-raising dinner for SJK Chung Hua No 2’s expansion project on Saturday.

Abang Johari’s speech was read by Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong, who represented him at the dinner.

Manyin, meanwhile, said he welcomed cooperation across the political divide to highlight problems faced by schools in Sarawak.

Having noted the presence of DAP Sarawak chairman and Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen at the dinner, Manyin said that Chong may raise issues concerning Sarawak schools when speaking in Parliament in order to gain attention and urgency from the federal Education Ministry.

He also said he had mentioned that 960 rural schools are classified as dilapidated, which deprived students from experiencing a conducive learning environment, in his ministerial winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly last Friday.

“Sarawak is still 13th in terms of ranking in national schools performance, followed by Labuan at 14th and Sabah 15th. Let’s work together to improve our position,” he said.

Manyin (fourth right), flanked by his wife Datin Sri Mary on his left, joins others including Wong (second right) and Wee (left) in showing some of the mock cheques of contributions received for the SJK Chung Hua No. 2 expansion project.