KUCHING, Sept 29 — Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) will be setting up a committee to oversee the wellbeing of all mission schools in the state, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
Uggah, who is the minister in charge of Unifor, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has given an instruction for Unifor to set up the committee, much like the existing committee that looks after the Chinese schools in the state which was set up recently.
“The chief minister had asked Unifor to set up a committee to look into the needs of mission schools in Sarawak. Next week we are going to have a meeting.
“The state already has a committee for the Chinese schools. Now Unifor will set up one to look into the mission schools,” he told reporters after presenting some government grant to the Anglican Diocese of Kuching for the rebuilding of the theological college and training centre the House of the Epiphany here.
Uggah said the reason why Abang Johari wanted Unifor to set up that committee was because, much like the issue facing the Chinese schools here, mission schools in the state, being “sekolah bantuan”, do not get much assistance from the federal government.
He said Unifor had informed three main Christian denominations in the state to send their representatives to attend the meeting some time next week to discuss details on the setting up of the proposed mission school committee.
The three main Christian denominations with mission schools in the state Uggah revealed were Anglican, Methodist and Roman Catholic. The Anglican alone has 47 primary and five secondary schools in Sarawak.
“So I have informed them that Unifor is organising a meeting together with their representatives next week,” said Uggah. — Borneo Post
