Sabah should appoint education head, not Federal
Published on: Wednesday, April 24, 2024
By: Larry Ralon
Mohamaddin said from the various measures and initiatives introduced by the State Government regarding the education of young Sabahans, the State Government is serious about raising the quality of education.
Kota Kinabalu: Segama Assemblyman Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor should be allowed to appoint the Sabah Education Director as a first step towards the devolution of education autonomy from Federal to the State Government.
He raised the autonomy of education and health as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) in the State Assembly.
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He said from the various measures and initiatives introduced by the State Government regarding the education of young Sabahans, the State Government is serious about raising the quality of education.
“The government’s policy speech for 2024 touches on the commitment of the State Government to fight for the rights of Sabah as enshrined in MA63, especially the demand for revenue namely the Special Grants and the interests of the people of Sabah, through the 1963 Malaysia Agreement Implementation Action Council.
“It should be remembered that MA63 also involves the autonomy of education and health which should be emphasised in every discussion of the action council.
“Like Sarawak, Sabah should also fight to get the autonomy of both sectors,” he said.
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Recently, Sabah Education Department said it would not follow Sarawak’s example in wanting stepped up implementation of the Dual Language Policy of science and maths in English (DLP).
This was despite the Sabah State Government requesting the department to do so.
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Mohamaddin also asked the State Government to list the drastic measures it has taken to manage the performance of loss-making government-linked companies (GLCs).
“I understand more than 90 per cent of the more than 200 State GLCs have unsatisfactory business performance,” he said.
He also asked the State Government to state the status of the investment on 30 acres near the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) between Yayasan Sabah and Syarikat Pemaju Kota Kinabalu Sdn Bhd, as contained in the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in January 2022 which was mentioned to be worth more than RM4 billion and has the potential to create 2,000-3,000 job opportunities.
The former Federal Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister said the State Government also needs to implement promotional programmes to countries that are a source of quality tourists, tourists who can spend big in Sabah instead of just looking at quantity.
“The tourism industry which is capable of generating the economy of local craft entrepreneurs and programmes to preserve diverse ethnic cultures need to be expanded to the village level, for young people to have interest and love for cultural uniqueness,” he said.
He also urged the State Government to consider fighting for the new Lahad Datu Airport construction.
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