Manyin calls on S’wak MPs to convince federal ministry of education matters
KUCHING: All members of parliament from Sarawak are urged to continue their efforts in bringing up to the federal Ministry of Education ( MOE) matters that need urgent attention.
The call was made by Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Dato Sri Michael Manyin, who emphasised that education should not be politicised and that his ministry welcomes the support from all parties to improve the education eco-system in Sarawak.
The Tebedu assemblyman said it was unfair for Democratic Action Party ( DAP) Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii to accuse him of lying on the issue of getting consent from the federal Ministry of Education, for Sarawak to implement projects to connect 113 schools to the state electricity grid so that these schools can have 24-hour electricity supply, and 33 schools to the water mains so that they can have access to treated water supply.
“To safeguard the welfare and wellbeing of both students and teachers in these schools, the Sarawak government has offered to implement these projects at a total cost RM59 million using its own funds, even though it is the responsibility of the federal government.
“I would like to clarify that during my press conference on Nov 13, 2018 at the State Legislative Assembly complex, I had categorically informed the media that the federal Ministry of Education had responded to my letter on Oct 24, 2018 seeking clarification on whether the state’s offer was a grant, and that I had replied to this letter on Oct 30, 2018. This is clearly stated in The Borneo Post report of the press conference on Nov 14, 2018,” he said.
“As such, the allegation by YB Dr Kelvin Yii that I was lying about not receiving any reply from the Ministry of Education since June 2018 is baseless, malicious and done to seek cheap publicity. What I highlighted during the press conference was that MESTR ( Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research) has yet to receive consent from the Ministry of Education for the state to implement the projects which was true at that instant time.
“I would like to add that MESTR has just received another letter from the federal Minister of Education Dr Maszlee Malik dated Nov 29, 2018 in which he has explained that the state’s proposal can only be implemented after issues related to existing contracts have been resolved,” he added.
Manyin said the implementing agencies will meet with MOE officers to work out the details.
He was also disappointed that Dr Yii and other Pakatan Harapan ( PH) leaders had further accused him of highlighting the issue of dilapidated schools and lack of amenities as though the problem was something that happened over the last six months, and blaming the PH government for it.
“Since the establishment of MESTR in May 2017, I went public on the conditions of our schools. Through numerous press conferences and public speeches, I have highlighted the plight of our young school children and appealed to the then federal government for larger allocations to solve the problem.
“In many of these statements and speeches, I made it very clear that the main factor contributing to these problems is the lack of funding allocation from the previous government.
“The physical needs of our schools have not received the due consideration and unless special allocations are made, the situation will only worsen.
“Anyone who has followed my speeches since June last year will know that the allegation by Dr Yii is not true. It is a blatant distortion of facts done with ill intent,” he stressed.
Manyin said PH leaders had also accused him of sensationalising the issue of dilapidated schools.
On this, he pointed out that Sarawak, with a land mass of about 124,500 square kilometres, is not just made of urban centres such as Kuching, Sibu, Miri and the likes.
“The rural areas make up more than 70 per cent. Thus, do not just look at the urban schools to understand the problem.”
He said PH MPs from Sarawak who are mostly from urban constituencies need to go to rural areas to see the school conditions for themselves.
“They could not understand the problem on the ground because they remained ‘armchair politicians’.”
He pointed out that the conditions of many schools in rural areas were really deplorable, which Maszlee himself had acknowledged.
“So there really is nothing to sensationalise about. I hope that all elected representatives, including those from Pakatan Harapan, will realise the real condition and support the effort of both MOE and MESTR to create more conducive environment for our students to study,” asserted Manyin.
On a brighter note, Manyin said he was happy that as a result of the efforts of the Sarawak government, the former federal government allocated a sum of RM1 billion to address the problems of dilapidated schools in Sarawak – RM500 million to be spent in 2018 and another RM500 million in 2019.
A total of 116 schools have been upgraded this year at a cost of RM419 million, he said, adding he hoped PH will honour this commitment and make available the RM500 million for 2019.