SARAWAK Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg today launched the construction of the state’s first of five international boarding schools, in a plan Petrajaya says is meant to fill gaps in the national education system.

However, Abang Johari said these English-medium schools does not mean Sarawak had lost faith in the national education system, but the state government was concerned with the policy changes that came with each new minister.     

He said the schools will take in students from Form 1 to 5, and that they still had to take the Bahasa Malaysia subject and sit for the examination.

Sarawak Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Michael Manyin said the schools will take in promising students from low-income families.

The chief minister in his speech at the school groundbreaking ceremony today, said the school will train students to be fluent in English to fulfil the needs of industry and multinational companies operating in the state.

“We have graduates but the companies are saying they have a problem with these graduates.

“They have no command of the English language. The problem may be simple but that’s the dilemma the companies and we faced,” he said.

Abang Johari said the best students could get full scholarships to further their studies at the world’s leading universities.

The rest could be found places at the two state-owned universities – Curtin in Miri and Swinburne in Kuching – which are branches of Australian institutions.

This first international school will be built on a 11.7ha site adjacent to the agricultural institute at Semenggoh at Mile 12 of the Kuching-Serian Road.

Manyin said the demand for an English-medium education that follows an international curriculum has grown over the few years, but resulted in unequal access to quality education as only affluent families could afford to send their children to these schools. 

“This will further widen the gap between the urban rich and the rural poor.”

Manyin said the five state-owned international schools – two in Kuching and one each in Sibu, Bintulu and Miri – will take children with high potential from low-income families, especially from rural areas.

These schools will be close to urban centres to expose rural students city life.

Manyin said the State Planning Authority has approved sites in Miri, Bintulu, Sibu, the location of the second school in Kuching is still being finalised.

The schools will offer the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) offered by the Cambridge Assessment International Education Board.

Manyin said in addition to IGCSE, the students will also be prepared to take the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examinations as private candidates.

“As there is an 80-85% overlap in the IGCSE and SPM Science and Mathematics curriculum, taking both IGSCE and SPM is possible.

“This will ensure that our students will have the option to enter quality overseas institutions with their IGCSE certificate or enter local universities with their SPM certificates.”

This is also to give opportunity to our students to obtain the necessary credit in SPM Bahasa Malaysia to qualify for employment in the government sector. – September 22, 2020.