THE creation of two state ministries focused on education and health were not meant to replace the federal government’s role, Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal said.

He said the Education and Innovation Ministry and Health and Peoples’ Wellbeing Ministry were established to deal with Putrajaya’s shortcomings in the state and implement Sabah’s own agenda in the two areas.

“The two ministries will give us more autonomy. It is not meant to overlap the role of the federal ministries or replace and introduce a state own system in terms of health and education,” he said.

The Sabah Health and People Wellbeing Minister is Sandakan MP Stephen Wong, while the Education and Innovation Minister is Sindumin assemblyman Dr Yusof Yacob.

On education, he said the government will not replace the existing national standard exams like Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) but will focus complementing the present system, and focused on the creation of Vocational Education and Training Institutes (TVETs).

He said there was need to aid Sabah students who do not have the financial means to study at the tertiary level and become skilled workers.

“We want the young Sabahans to have skills so they could gain employment. I know not just factories and industries in Sabah or any parts of Malaysia in need of skilled workers, but the whole world are looking for them.

“With TVETs, we will not only help them to find jobs but also help the local economy to flourish,” he said.

On health, Shafie said the state ministry could focus on ensuring there are enough specialist and medicines in hospitals in the rural areas.

He also said there is no point for the state government to make it easy for skilled Sabahan workers to gain employment but all their earnings spent on healthcare if there is no local ministry to take care of their wellbeing.  – August 22, 2018.