Institute for Sabah school principals, headmasters soon
KOTA KINABALU: The RM5 million cabin office project of Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB), Sabah Branch is expected to be completed by September this year.
Deputy Education Minister I Datuk Mary Yap when officiating at the ground-breaking ceremony at Tebobon Menggatal yesterday, stressed that the appointed contractor should complete the project on time, and also deliver quality buildings.
“Building IAB i n Sabah is another positive development in the education system, and at the same time to increase the number of educational leaders undergoing training each year to enhance their work knowledge and capabilities.
“IAB Sabah Branch started the initial operation in 2010 occupying the former building that was once the District Education Office of Kota Kinabalu in Bukit Padang. It is one division of the Ministry of Education tasked with implementing training for educational leaders and future echelon of educational leaders in the area of educational management and leadership, she said.
In Sabah, IAB trains mostly school principals and headmasters, and also other tiers of education leaders.
Having IAB in Sabah, it is also believed to reduce the cost of training expenditure by having the training done here at Kota Kinabalu instead of IAB Genting Highlands.
There are two courses conducted in IAB, namely Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and National Professional Qualification for Educational Leaders (NPQEL).
To date, a total of 136 CPD courses have been successfully offered to 4,621 educational leaders in Sabah and Labuan having the opportunity to undergo training so far.
Courses conducted were using various school classrooms, district education offices and teaching colleges.
Meanwhile, NPQEL is a main course conducted by IAB. It is a pre-requisite for aspiring principals and head teachers as mandated in the National Educational Blueprint Malaysia 2013-2025.
A total of 315 aspirants have been successfully trained by IAB Sabah Branch, while 93 aspirants are undergoing training for the first half of the year and another 93 to be trained for the second half of 2015.
The IAB Sabah Branch project consists of six training rooms, one meeting room and one resource centre, three lecturers rooms and one administration office.
Also present yesterday were IAB Deputy Director Mazlan Samsudin, Director of IAB Sabah Branch Lew Weok Leng and Director of Department of Director General of Lands and Mines Sabah, Josliw Matjumping.
Mazlan, in his welcoming speech, said the building of IAB Sabah Branch will be a showcase for the institute of its building with green technology, having lecturers room with the 21century design.
During the press conference, Josliw also said that his department would make sure the land given by state government will be developed according to the proposed plans.