KUCHING: The Sarawak government is collaborating with the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, to set up its own international residential schools soon, according to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said even though education was under the federal government’s jurisdiction, the state had to invest heavily on education, particularly on secondary and tertiary education, so that its youths could contribute to its digital-based economy.
“I will budget an allocation for next year to build the four basic international residential schools in Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu.
“Datuk Seri Michael Manyin (Education, Science and Technological Research Minister) has just come back from Cambridge (University) to look into that partnership,” Abang Johari, who is also state Finance Minister, told reporters after officiating the Sin Chew Education Fair 2019, here today.
Also present were Acting High Commissioner of New Zealand Gareth Pidgeon, Manyin, as well as Media Chinese International Limited group executive director Tiong Choon.
Abang Johari said the international syllabus for Form One to Form Five would be modeled on what was being done in Singapore, and would include Bahasa Malaysia as a single subject with the state government subsidising the fees.
At present, local students on Yayasan Sarawak scholarships were given the opportunity to pursue their tertiary education in internationally-accredited universities in New Zealand, Australia, United States and UK, especially in technology-based courses, he said.
He said the state government has also adopted English as another official language in Sarawak as part of its approach to education which has to change if it wanted to leapfrog into the 4.0 Industrial Revolution.
Earlier, Tiong said with the global technological breakthrough that would affect workforce skills, it was pertinent for educational institutions to produce talents who could survive and thrive in the future job market with the right education.
She said, since its inception in 2017, Sin Chew Education Fair had aspired to provide young people a platform to discover opportunities offered by esteemed participating institutions to identify specific institutions and courses that matched their interests and qualifications. — Bernama
