STU puts high hopes on newly-minted education minister
KUCHING: Sarawak Teachers Union ( STU) expects newly appointed Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik to help the state overcome being left behind in terms of school facilities and infrastructure.
Its president Jisin Nyud said STU has no problem with Maszlee as a professional and an education minister for all Malaysians, but expects the new minister to understand the needs of Sarawak, especially its education system.
“STU expects that he can help to speed up all that is lagging behind in Sarawak so that our standard, facilities and infrastructure are on par with schools in Peninsular Malaysia,” he said yesterday.
Maszlee was named Education Minister in the first batch of cabinet ministers announced by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad last Friday.
Dr Mahathir had initially named himself to the post a day earlier, but changed his mind in the wake of criticism for not adhering to a Pakatan Harapan promise that the prime minister would not hold any other portfolio.
Jisin also said that with Maszlee as education minister, STU expects the country’s education system to be back on track as one of the best education systems in the region.
After going through the 105 items of Maszlee’s next course of action, he said he found them to be ‘amazing’ and represent the hopes that the teachers have been waiting for.
“On the workload of teachers as mentioned by Pakatan Harapan in its manifesto, STU really expects the burden of teachers to be reduced as some of them are not necessary.
“STU wants the ministry to adopt the value of trust on the teachers. It’s not only about preparing documents or evidence whenever the higher authorities are coming to school to check on what the teachers are doing. This has been making the teachers feel not just stressful, but also distracts their focus in teaching.
“Since the (current) education system is too focused on academics and on how many A’s you get, STU would like the new education minister to look into subjects that are of practical use, from primary until secondary level, so that there is continuity in the teaching and learning,” he said.
He pointed out that the ‘ 60: 40’ policy ( 60 per cent of students enrolled in Science stream and 40 per cent in Arts) cannot be achieved until now because of students’ poor performance in science and mathematics.
“I suggest that we treat all subjects as equally important. ‘ Tough’ subjects like additional mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics and other subjects should be taught in Year 1.
“It sounds ridiculous but students must have the basics and enjoy learning the subjects. We don’t have to cramp (all) the subjects within a short period of time,” he said.