Kota Kinabalu: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman scoffed at Parti Warisan Sabah's election promise to set up a State Education Ministry, saying it will eat up almost the entire State Budget on paying teachers' salaries alone."We'd have to spend RM3.7 billion a year just to pay teachers' salaries. That does not yet include the huge funds needed for school development."As Finance Minister, I can tell you that the State Budget is about RM4 billion. If such a huge amount is spent on teachers' salaries, then what would we have left?" he asked.
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Musa questioned the opposition party's intention during a luncheon meeting with association members of the United Sabah Ethnic Bumiputera Council (MAGEBS) at his official residence in Sri Gaya, Thursday. He said it is nothing more than another lie to gain support from the people.
"If people didn't do their own calculations, they'd think this is all true. But it's just another big lie. There's no way a (State) education ministry can be set up," he said.
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He said it would be best to leave matters concerning education, health and security under the Federal Government as they fall under its responsibility and had big funds to spend on."Why do we have to desire for an education ministry with the budget that we have?
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As far as we're concerned, let the Federal Government shoulder this responsibility. With our budget, we still need to spend on so many other development programmes," he added.Parti Warisan Sabah announced in February that it was planning to establish the State Education Ministry and through it, a State-owned international university as well, if it had the mandate from the people to govern the State.The party was also determined to develop Sabah's own educational hub to accommodate all the different types of schools and private colleges.
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Assistant Minister of Finance Datuk Ramlee Marabahan had reportedly said education policies implemented by the Education Ministry had produced excellent human capital at the federal and state levels.As such he said there was no need to establish a Ministry of Education at state level while telling the party to consider all aspects before giving false hopes to the people. - Leonard Alaza
