Number of science students in Sarawak drops

KUCHING: The number of students in Sarawak taking Science and Mathematics subjects at the secondary and university levels has dropped, said Sarawak Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research, Datuk Seri Michael Manyin Jawong.
Describing this as a serious and worrying scenario, Manyin said it should be immediately rectified so that students from the state are not left out in the race for jobs.
He added that at present, only 23% of students in Sarawak were in the Science stream in Form Four and possibly less than 10% at Form Six and university levels.
"If this continues, our students will face problems getting jobs because, in 10 to 20 years, about 70 to 80% of jobs will require qualifications in science and engineering," he told reporters after opening the International Conference on Development, Environment and Society (ICDES) here today.
Asked about the factors contributing to this drop, Manyin said it was probably because students in the state did not get proper Science and Mathematics education at the primary school level.
"There are primary schools, especially in the rural and interior areas, where language teachers are forced to teach Science and Mathematics subjects while there are some schools where the enrollment is so low that it is difficult to base special teachers there for these two subjects," he said. — Bernama