KUCHING, March 8 — The state government will build five international schools specially for top performing students from Sarawak, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg said today.

He said the state government has identified sites in Sibu, Bintulu, Miri and here for the construction of the schools.

He said the aim is to create cores of technically knowledgeable human resources which can help Sarawak to develop economically and leapfrog to IR 4.0 through quality education.

The chief minister said he will allocate fund in the state Budget to be tabled in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly later this year for the construction of the schools.

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“We are working with Cambridge University in United Kingdom on the international syllabus to be taught at the schools. The university will also train teachers to teach in these schools,” he said at the opening of Sin Chew Education Fair here.

He said the school will use English as a medium of instruction while Bahasa Malaysia will be taught as a single subject.

He said the schools will have Form One to Form Five classes.

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“We will use UPSR results to pick students to study in these international schools, similar to the model used by Maktab Rendah Sains Mara in taking students,” he said.

“It is a heavy investment on the part of the state government but at the end of the day, we want to produce elite students who can pursue their studies further at top international universities, like Stanford, Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford and London School of Economics,” he said.

He said Sarawak is following Singapore's footsteps where top students are sent out to overseas to further their studies.

Abang Johari believed that the schools will be able to produce students who can meet the requirements of top international universities.

Speaking to reporters later, the chief minister said bright students from poor families will not be deprived to study in these schools.

“Although the fees will be very high, the poor students will be given subsidies and they will be charged fees according to how much they can afford,” he said.

He also said students from these schools will be provided with Yayasan Sarawak scholarships to study abroad.

He said after they have completed their studies, they must return home and work in Sarawak.