Focus on schools, not on Sarawak, Sabah as ‘medan dakwah’ – PBDSB tells Maszlee

KUCHING: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru ( PBSDB) says Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik should focus on the real issues affecting schools in Sarawak, and less on the number of religious teachers from Peninsular Malaysia based in the state.

Its president Cobbold John said Maszlee’s use of the term ‘medan dakwah’ ( field of propagation) in describing Sabah and Sarawak when answering a question in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec 11 regarding the shortage of local religious teachers had caused concern among its supporters.

“We must remember however that this policy (of sending religious teachers from the peninsula to Sarawak and Sabah) was not created by Pakatan Harapan. It was the policy and hidden agenda from the previous Umno-led Barisan Nasional government.

“In a way, we should be thankful to this minister for saying what is actually happening in Sarawak and Sabah with regards to this policy. But whatever mess Umno and BN had left behind, Pakatan Harapan ( PH) must clean or else the fault of the previous government would continue to be borne by PH,” Cobbold said yesterday.

The Education Minister had called on religious teachers from Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah to continue serving in Sabah and Sarawak rather than seek a return to the peninsula due to the critical shortage of local religious teachers.

He said the two states would be their ‘medan dakwah’ and ‘medan menabur bakti’ ( place to sow good deeds).

He was answering a question Kubang Krian MP Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man ( PAS) on whether the Education Ministry was planning to increase the number of religious schools in the two states to address the shortage.

Meanwhile, lawyer and activist Siti Kasim in a Facebook post slammed Maszlee over his remark, saying the minister is supposed to look at the country’s education objectively and not from a religious perspective.

Many netizens were also highly critical of Maszlee, with some suggesting the time was right for Sarawak to pursue full autonomy in education.