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April 16, 2009 22:34 PM
Education Ministry To Further Develop 'Permata' Programme
KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Education is to further develop early childhood education and care under the 'Permata' programme next year to realise the nation's dream and aspiration.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister, said the ministry had been entrusted with the responsibility of undertaking the functions of the programme by next year.
He said it was the right time now to focus attention on early childhood education for children below the age of five.
"I fully agree that this age group is particularly important as it is the most critical formative years of a child's development and efforts should be taken to have programmes directed at this target group," he said in his speech at the close of the three-day International Conference on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) here.
Muhyiddin commended Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, for her initiative and commitment in pursuing the "Permata" programme until the successful establishment of Permata centres and formulation of the national policy on ECEC.
He said a recent "Education for All" assessment of Malaysia undertaken by Unesco and Unicef noted that Malaysia had seen steady progress in reaching the goals of delivering education for all.
"Of all the countries surveyed, Malaysia was also said to have one of the highest enrolled and continued education (survival) rate and the best resourced school and was considered one of the 56 high Educational Development Index countries.
"We are also indeed fortunate that there is no gender discrimination and boys and girls have equal opportunity for education," he said.
Muhyiddin said Malaysia had done very well in pre-school right up to secondary education and had taken incremental steps to provide for pre-school education for children aged five to six years through gradually incorporating pre-school education into the national education system as well as standardising the national pre-school curriculum.
He said the Unesco Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2006 had noted that enrolment for five-year olds in Malaysia was one of the highest among Southeast Asian countries.
Meanwhile, asked by reporters about the upcoming by-election in Penanti, Penang, Muhyiddin said the Barisan Nasional coalition was ready to face it. Former Penang deputy chief minister I Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin has resigned as Penanti state assemblyman.
-- BERNAMA
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