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PETALING JAYA: While parents have welcomed Sarawak’s initiative to build five state-owned international schools for Sarawak children, an educator cautioned that the proposal goes against the provisions of the Education Act.
Sarawak’s Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg recently said that the state government would establish international secondary schools to produce students with a good command of the English language.
The Parent Action Group for Education (Page) and the Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education (Magpie) welcomed the move, saying it would allow students to compete on a global scale.
However, Professor Teo Kok Seong of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia said that education was within the purview of the federal government and allowing state-owned international schools would go against the Education Act, which requires all public schools to use the Bahasa Melayu as a means of instruction.
“In a way (the Sarawak proposal) is not correct, there must be uniformity when it comes to government entities,” he said.
He said the Sarawak state government should import British teachers, for a more efficient way to improve English proficiency across the state.
“You don’t have to go to the extreme of building international schools in order to improve English proficiency, you can do it through the English subject itself. That is better than building five international schools, ”he said.
Page’s secretary, Tunku Munawirah Putra, said Putrajaya’s Dual Language Program (DLP) and Highly Immersive Program (HIP), designed to defend the Malay language and strengthen students’ English proficiency, has been plagued by obstacles and opposition from many parties, including within the Ministry of Education. .
Magpie President Mak Chee Kin said Malaysian leaders lacked the will to overhaul the national education system, even though many knew it was for the betterment of all.
“Our policy is that if some can’t cope, like science and math in English, then the rest of the country should do the same (to adapt to them). By the way, it should be the other way around, ”Mak said.
Munawirah said that middle-level English schools were necessary to produce English teachers of the future. “The mastery of our English teachers was better when they were products of the English schools of yesteryear,” he said.
Commenting on whether West Malaysia should follow in Sarawak’s footsteps, Munawirah said that the IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) study program was being offered at various Mara College of Sciences (MRSM).
Abang Johari Openg said that two international schools would be built in Kuching, and one in Sibu, Bintulu and Miri. Students from B40 families would receive a full subsidy, students from M40 families would receive a partial subsidy, while those from wealthy families must pay the fees in full.
