Education autonomy should be legislated to ensure continuity, Sarawak assembly told

KUCHING: The devolution of education powers to Sarawak should be incorporated into regulations or statutory amendments to ensure continuity, the Sarawak legislative assembly heard.

Deputy Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee said the federal Education Ministry had agreed on a number of key points on education autonomy presented by the state government as part of negotiations under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

He said the state and Federal education ministries were now studying in depth whether the agreed points could be put into an amendment to the relevant statutes or regulations so that there would be continued adherence.

"Every time there is a change in the (education) minister or the government, there will be a change in policy.

"With regard to MA63, we don't want this to happen," he told Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing (GPS-Meradong) during question time on Thursday (May 9).

Dr Annuar said the key points agreed with the Education Ministry included delegating authority to the state education director to approve school development projects funded by the Sarawak government or other parties.

"In other words, the approval does not have to go through Putrajaya anymore.

"This will improve the process and facilitate the implementation of the projects, as previously a lot of rural transformation projects and minor rural projects were slowed down because of bureaucracy," he said.

Dr Annuar also said Sarawak was allowed to extend the use of English as a medium of instruction for Additional Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics in secondary schools.

English is currently used to teach Science and Mathematics in primary schools under Sarawak's dual language programme (DLP).

In addition, Dr Annuar said the state government was allowed to participate in school project planning and conduct assessments for DLP classes.

"More important is allowing the state government to access data within the Education Ministry. This is crucial for us to implement data-driven projects so that it will be more successful," he said.

Dr Annuar also said the shortage of teachers in Sarawak, which was previously an area of concern, had now been mostly resolved.

He said teachers' posts in primary schools were now 94.5% filled and 98.9% for secondary schools.

"Insya Allah it will soon be 100%," he added.