Wednesday, February 10, 2010

October 25, 2009 13:28 PM

Rosmah Heartened By Allocation To Permata Under 2010 Budget

By Muin Abdul Majid

DUBAI, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has described the RM100 million allocation to the Permata programme under the 2010 Budget as a recognition of the importance of early childcare and education in Malaysia.

The prime minister's wife said it would enable projects already planned under the Permata initiative to be carried out with the cooperation of various partners including ministries and institutions of higher learning.

"I'm happy with this development as it means that more of our young children, including those in rural areas, will also be able to attend good nurseries using up-to-date syllabus," she said after attending a joint Aidilfitri and Deepavali celebration with Malaysians residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) here on Saturday.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the RM100 million allocation when tabling the budget for 2010 at the Dewan Rakyat on Friday.

The Permata programme includes efforts to establish Permata Negara centres for children under five years old.

The programme has been introduced in 457 childcare centres to date and successfully nurtured 17,565 children.

Exceptionally intelligent students should excel through the Permata Pintar programme that will be implemented by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in collaboration with the University of Johns Hopkins of the United States.

Elaborating, Rosmah, who is chairman of the National Permata Policy Executive Committee, said Malaysia needed a programme tailored for exceptionally smart children so that parents would stop sending them to other countries for education.

"If we don't come up with something now, these gifted children may end up working overseas when they grow up," she said, noting that such a situation would be a loss for Malaysia.

The first summer camp for such children would be held in December, she said, expressing hope that it would eventually be an annual affair attended not only by Malaysian children but also those from the Asean region and beyond.

According to Rosmah, if left to their own devices, gifted children may be mistakenly perceived as naughty or problematic children.

"That's why we need a special programme to nurture them so that their talent doesn't go to waste," she added.

Another Permata initiative is the Permata Seni which aims to train intelligent and talented students in performing arts. It will be implemented by the Ministry of Information Communication and Culture.

The Permata Insan scheme intends to educate students to understand, internalise and practise the fundamentals of Al-Quran. This programme will be administered by Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia for students between nine and 12 years old.

Rosmah is in Dubai to attend the Women in Leadership Forum which opens later on Sunday.

-- BERNAMA

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