KUCHING, June 24 — A Sarawak minister today thanked the federal government for supporting the state in teaching mathematics and science in English.
Sarawak Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Datuk Seri Michael Manyin said the support was conveyed to him by Education Minister Mazslee Malik last Friday.
“I had a meeting with the minister Mazslee and his officials and they had pledged to give us their full support,” he told reporters after opening a five-day Management and Leadership Workshop for 103 primary school headmasters from the southern zone in Sarawak.
He said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had offered Chief Minister Datuk Abang Johari Openg for primary schools in Sarawak to take up the programme.
“I don’t know why the prime minister asked the chief minister to take up the challenge, probably because there was a strong resistance from certain groups on the other side,” he said, referring to Peninsular Malaysia.
Manyin, who is a former senior school principal, said among the groups that opposed the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English was the National Union of Teaching Profession.
He said teaching the two subjects in English is not the policy of the federal government that must be followed by all schools in the country.
He said Sarawak was lucky because the state government was going all the way to ensure the success of the programme.
Earlier in his speech, Manyin said primary school headmasters have a heavy responsibility to ensure the success of teaching the two subjects in English in their schools.
He said that the state government is relying on them for the successful implementation of the programme.
“We hope that you can undertake the responsibility entrusted to your schools,” he said .
About 3,000 primary school teachers will be trained in stages to teach the two subjects in English to Primary One pupils starting next year.
