PBDSB veep asks Penguang to reveal data on education aid from Yayasan S’wak
KUCHING: Marudi assemblyman Datu Dr Penguang Manggil should obtain detailed information from the top management of Yayasan Sarawak on the conditions and criteria for eligibility to the oneoff education loan assistance and scholarships from the Foundation.
In stating this, Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) vice president Sawing Kedit said the call by Penguang that the people of Sarawak, especially Dayaks, who have been offered to continue their studies at higher learning institutions (IPTs) to apply for online assistance such as one-off education loan assistance and scholarships from Yayasan Sarawak, was indeed good.
He, however, asked if such applications would be approved without considering an applicant’s race.
He alleged that in recent years, many parents of Dayak students have complained that their children did not get assistance such as one-off loans or scholarships from the Foundation, despite meeting the conditions and criteria that have been set such as public examination results.
He said it was even sadder when some of these Dayak children, who live in rural and remote areas and are from the poor and disadvantaged community, continue to be marginalised and deprived of their right to such assistance despite the students producing excellent results.
“In view of such situation, I would like to urge Penguang to ask Yayasan Sarawak to release data and details of aid recipients from the Foundation for the past 50 years and to date.
“Having acquired such statistics and data, Penguang should issue a statement on social media or newspapers so that the people can see and evaluate transparently what has been implemented by Yayasan Sarawak and the state government on their role, function and responsibility of providing educational assistance services through the Foundation.
“In addition, he can ask Yayasan Sarawak to release the latest list of management and administration organisations of the Foundation so that Sarawakians can see the distribution of races and who holds the highest positions in the Foundation,” he said in a statement yesterday in response to a recent statement by Penguang.
Sawing said Sarawakians have the right to be served with the latest data that takes place in Yayasan Sarawak, which is the driving force behind the development of education, as well as to produce human capital to jointly develop the state.
“We also want transparency in the matter because the funds allocated for Yayasan Sarawak are from the taxes of all citizens and not contributed by any one race.
“In this regard, PBDSB therefore urges the Sarawak government, led by Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), to be fair, transparent and with integrity in carrying out the task of helping all citizens regardless of race, religion and political ideology.
“Government agencies such as Yayasan Sarawak are not the political agencies of any political party but are agencies that are responsible for helping and providing services to all Sarawakians,” he emphasised.
Sawing said PBDSB also called on Penguang, the Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government, to study and obtain data on how many Dayak children have received offers to further their studies at IPTs and how many Dayak students have been given assistance by Yayasan Sarawak.
He said this was to facilitate Penguang in designing shortterm and long-term strategic plans for education development and issues in the Marudi area and the state as a whole.
“Education is the key to life and not merely issuing words without proper practical planning and implementation in order to realise the government’s call to develop human capital in Sarawak.
“The people are tired of the empty promises of the government elected representatives, who, needless to say, have been elected by the people through elections.
“Now is the right time for the elected representatives to show that they can fulfil their promises and not merely rhetoric to promise heaven and earth and continue lying to the people,” he stressed.