KOTA KINABALU: A Borneo Education System has been proposed for Sabah and Sarawak as a means to upgrade education in both states.
Parti Warisan’s Tungku assemblyman Assafal P. Alian (pic), who mooted the idea, urged the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-led state government to discuss the matter with Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
He said as founding members of the federation, Sabah and Sarawak should have the right to shape their education systems.
Assafal said this was not in any way meant to break away from the federal Education Ministry, but only to assert Sabah and Sarawak’s special status.
The assemblyman also said this was to ensure the annual budget allocations amounting to billions of ringgit for the Education Ministry would be perused to achieve the aspirations of both states.
“But Sabah and Sarawak must first reach a consensus on this matter and present their case as a united front to the Federal Government,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
Assafal said previous “interferences” had caused many deviations with important facts omitted in the teaching syllabus, citing the formation of Malaysia and inherent state rights and privileges under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“This was never part of the deal when Sabah agreed to form the Federation of Malaysia. What we wanted back then was an education system that will produce students of international quality who will one day assist in the development of Sabah,” he added.
As such, he said the idea by the Sarawak government to create its own state assessment examination similar to the now-abolished Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) was good.
“This is because unlike schoolchildren in the peninsula who can spend more time on extracurricular activities due to their superior academic environment, our schoolchildren in the rural areas are not so lucky and lag academically due to poverty, logistical challenges, insufficient teaching equipment and poor facilities,” he said.
“I believe intermittent assessments, similar to UPSR and PT3 examination, are required in Sabah.”
Assafal said this would enable schools in Sabah to continuously evaluate the performance of its students and make the necessary intervention or assistance long before they sat for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia exam.
On Wednesday, the Sarawak Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee said that the state plans to devise its own assessment system to replace the UPSR to assess student performance and to determine which stream the student should be placed when entering secondary education.
