KUCHING: The Sarawak education, science and technological research ministry today invited Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) professor Teo Kok Seong for a discussion on how to improve the performance of schools in the state.
In a statement, the ministry said the state government was concerned about the performance of their students, which is behind the national average, and would like to discuss with anyone who has the expertise to improve the education system.
“If he is sincere and equally concerned about our schools, we are happy to discuss with him,” the ministry said.
“If he is unable to come, he can contact us and we will be happy to entertain him if he has any further inquiries to assist him in his next response.”
The ministry was responding to Teo, who had argued that Sarawak’s proposed state-owned international secondary schools will go against the Education Act 1996 if they do not use the national curriculum.
Teo described Sanjung Services Sdn Bhd, which will operate the international schools in Sarawak, as “a statutory body under the government”. Thus, any school owned by it would be a government school.
He said government schools were understood as those operated and funded by the government, either at the state or federal level.
The ministry, however, said Sanjung Services was not a statutory body but a private company incorporated under the Companies Act 2016.
On the other hand, Yayasan Sarawak is a statutory body established under an ordinance enacted by the state legislature.
“Thus, Sanjung Services and Yayasan Sarawak are separate legal entities,” said the statement.
The ministry also clarified that the Education Act defines “government educational institution’’ as those established and fully maintained by the government.
“The ‘government’, according to the Education Act, refers to the federal government represented by the education minister of Malaysia. As such, the establishment of international schools by Sanjung Services Sdn Bhd does not qualify the schools as government schools,” it said.
“Section 15 of the Education Act 1996 states that international schools are exempted from the national education system and, as such, are not required to implement the national curriculum.”
