A helping hand for mission, Chinese schools

Special cabinet committee formed to ensure education policy implemented smoothly

KUCHING: The state cabinet approved the setting up of a special committee to look into the needs of mission and Chinese schools at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud yesterday.

The committee will be headed by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang, while the members will include Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing, Social Development and Urbanisation Minister Tan Sri William Mawan, Environment and Public Health Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh and Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datin Fatimah Abdullah.

Taib told reporters after the state cabinet meeting yesterday that the committee would hold watching brief to ensure the federal policy on education would be implemented smoothly in Sarawak.

“And if there’s any problem, we at the state level who knows the local condition very well will try to make the implementation more acceptable to the people we are trying to help,” he said.

He also stressed that the state did not set up a unit as education is still a federal responsibility as this could only be done with the consent from the federal government.

Meanwhile, Wong, who had proposed the committee during the meeting, said he was happy its formation was agreed by everybody in the cabinet.

He said this committee would speak up on behalf of Mission and Chinese schools when forwarding requests to the federal government.

“If there’s any problem here, we will forward it to the federal government. Our group will represent the Mission and Chinese schools,” he said.


by Samuel Aubrey. Posted on September 23, 2011, Friday