Tuesday 04 May, 2010 07:36 am

News
Education is the most important agenda

FOR YOU…Nanta presents an incentive to a mother of one of the recipients witnessed by Ghani (left).

BY FAMAS

KAPIT: Member of Parliament for Kapit, Alexander Nanta Linggi has told teachers that as educators they must
realise that education is the most important agenda in the country.
“How the country can move forward will depend on the teachers as educationists to bring the wind of change for
the development of the country,” Nanta said at the Sarawak Teacher’s Union (STU) Kapit branch’s annual dinner
held at a restaurantshere on Saturday evening that in conjunction with the branch’s annual general meeting held at
the resources room at SMK Kapit No. 2 earlier in the afternoon.
“As the people’s elected representatives, we always do our best, we speak in parliament on education. Facilities in
rural schools have improved, not just the physical aspects but also the software as well. Even the teacher’s
hardship allowances has been approved and given.
“This shows that the government through the Ministry of Education appreciates the hard work demonstrated by the
teachers in their respective schools, Nanta pointed out.
He lauded the school’s performance which had improved a lot. However, he was quick to note that there was still
room for improvement.
He disclosed that he always kept himself updated with the education here.
“When the public examination results out, I get a copy to keep abreast of our progress. The country needs your
capacity building to have people knowledgeable, capable and dynamic as we gear towards achieving industrialised
nation status and a k-society,” he said.
At the function, Alexander called on the government and the Ministry of Education to understand the local
sentiment that most people in Sarawak desired the local Sarawakians be given more opportunities to train in the
teacher’s institute throughout the country.
However, he clarify, “It’s not that we (Sarawakian), don’t welcome teachers from Semananjung Malaysia to teach
in Sarawak but to ensure that fair opportunity be given to the local Sarawakians to be teachers here. I have raised
the issue in Parliament many times on the matter to recruit more eligible locals to be trained as teachers.
“The government should seriously consider the local sentiment as there is a growing feeling among parents that
their children can’t get into the teacher’s institutes. This is the thing we have to highlight to the government to
balance out every time people talk about it,” he said.
Nanta noted that that towards the end of the 9th Malaysia Plan when the budget might be almost exhausted, it
would be too drastic to cut the ‘travel and operation’ expenses budget of the Education Department throughout the
Sarawak from the headquarters to the secondary schools and to the primary schools in the district.
“It is not good and contrary to achieving excellent performance in school due to the lack of maintenance and
supervision by the relevant officers. So how can we expect to achieve high performance school (sekolah
pencapain prestesi tinggi)?” he asked.
He hoped that the government would not reduce the allocation especially for rural schools in the interior as the
teacher and pupil would need to move around for supervision purposes.
“Sarawak is such a huge state, as big as West Malaysia and the expense of moving from a place to another is very
high,” he added.
Present at the function were the president of STU, William Ghani Bina, deputy president Polycarp Teng and
secretary general Thomas Huo, chairman of STU Kapit branch Teoh Say Beng , its secretary Kong Mee Yok and
more than 100 teachers and committee members