Sabah must seize control of education

The current remote-control implementation of education policies in Sabah has resulted in high dropout rates in schools, indiscipline, truancy and low quality education.

KOTA KINABALU: When Sabah joined Malaysia in 1963, its educational system was revamped to suit the new nation. But 50 years on, there is a growing realisation that education here borders on mediocrity if not worse.

The stories now are of school dropouts, indiscipline, truancy, low-quality education and even a lack of command of the most basic language and communication skills.

It is the opposite of the education system available during “the good old days of British rule”, says Bingkor assemblyman Jeffrey Kitingan and he wants the state government to take note of this fact.

He claims federal control over education has led to poor administration, lack of quality control, bad planning and poor implementation of school projects had resulted in the coward spiral of the system in the state.

Now he wants the Sabah government to review and re-assess the education policy and administration in Sabah with the aim of taking back control.

He wants to see the “re-establishment of Sabah’s own Ministry of Education and a vision towards building towering Sabahans that will drive the growth of Sabah into a developed nation status.”

Commenting on the decision by the Sarawak government to build more technical schools and a pledge by philanthropist, Teo Han Tong, to help fund a new RM1.4 million school building for the 84-year old SJK Kuok Ming in Tawau, Kitingan said this was an eye-opener of the state of education in the two states.

He singled out the decision of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and his government in building more technical schools in Mukah, Kapit, Baram and Betong in an effort to get more rural Sarawakian children to pursue technical education as commendable.

“The Sabah government should emulate their Sarawak counterparts and build more technical and vocational institutes and colleges and upgrade existing ones to enhance the technical skills of Sabahans and at the same time hasten the pace of creating technically skilled and techno-savvy Sabahan youths.

“In the fast-paced modern world, job-seekers with better technical and technology skills not only stand a better chance of employment opportunities and career advancement but they will also contribute to and expedite the economic growth of Sabah.

“Nowadays, even a store-keeper in a medium-sized outfit will require computer knowledge and skills in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software,” he said.

Sabah education has regressed

He added that by re-establishing education under Sabah control, the Sabah government can better manage and plan for the development of local human capital.

“After 50 years of Malaysia, education and human capital development in Sabah appears to have regressed and not progressed as it should have.

Kitingan said he endorsed the recent call to empower the Sabah Education director which emphasizes the need for education to be under state control once again.

At the moment, he said, it is floundering under the weight and distance of remote control by Malayan policy-makers and federal bureaucracy compounded by the lack of knowledge of local extenuating circumstances.

As part of the education review, he suggested the Sabah government also re-assess the financial requirements and needs of Chinese schools and not just leave the matter to the Chinese and business communities.

“The government should fund the construction of school buildings, libraries and computer classes and not just make token contributions at the end of the year especially during election campaign periods to fish for votes of the Chinese community.

“This funding is more critical and justifiable in Sabah where in many Chinese schools the enrolment of non-Chinese students is more than one-third and in some instances where some students have to be turned away for lack of vacancies.

“The Chinese and business communities can still play their part and with the additional funding from the Sabah government, the Chinese schools can focus more on educational teaching and development,” he said.