FEDERAL-SABAH GOVT INTEGRATED COOPERATION NEEDED TO RESOLVE ZERO POOR SCHOOLS

KOTA KINABALU, April 29 (Bernama) -- The Sabah government will continue to strengthen cooperation with the federal government, especially with the Ministry of Education, in efforts to provide new life and atmosphere to infrastructure of schools in the state towards achieving zero poor schools.

State Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif said the good relationship between Sabah and the federal government, led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. who is concerned with the needs of the people, is believed to be able to resolve the problems that have plagued the education sector in the state for a long time.

Mohd Arifin, who is also state executive councillor for education, said the integrated cooperation which includes the involvement of the Sabah Education Department is very important to ensure the that allocations for the maintenance of schools and rebuilding dilapidated school buildings can continue to be prioritised in Sabah either through short- or long-term plans.

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"I am confident we can speed up the infrastructure needed in the development of education in the state, moreover, the Sabah Education Department has taken initiatives including making the state's education direction with one focus on monitoring and implementing school infrastructure for students in the state." he told Bernama.

"Our focus now is how the ongoing project is not interrupted and can be completed quickly according to the target or period set so that the development can be enjoyed by every student in the state."

Mohd Arifin reiterated that the Sabah government always fights for issues involving efforts to upgrade school facilities in the state in line with the commitment of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 to ensure that every aspiration voiced receives due attention from the federal government.

Additionally, a special Sabah development committee was also established, among others, to ensure the progress of development, maintenance and upgrading works, including those involving poor schools provided by the federal government, run according to the set schedule, he said.

In efforts towards zero poor schools in Sabah, Mohd Arifin said a short-term plan was outlined, among others, involving the maintenance of scale four, five and six schools based on existing policy allocations every year to ensure that the poor condition does not get worse and can even extend the life span of the building.

Meanwhile, the long-term plan is to ensure all dilapidated schools in scale seven are replaced with new buildings, he said.

Therefore, Mohd Arifin said the federal government is expected to be able to approve all project applications submitted to ensure that there are no more dilapidated school buildings in Sabah by 2029.

“Poor schools’ infrastructure causes students to not be able to enjoy learning perfectly and comfortably. Therefore, we are faced with the challenge of bridging the gap between knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the industry.” he said.

"This gap also has also created a mismatch between supply and demand in the job market," he said, adding that the aspect of human capital development which is one of the important essences in the Sabah Maju Jaya roadmap indeed includes efforts to upgrade infrastructure including for schools.

The determination of the federal government, via the Education Ministry, to ensure the education issue in Sabah including raising the quality of education for the benefit of the state can be seen when a total of 218 out of 338 poor school reconstruction projects have been completed in the state to date.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek spoke on this matter (rebuilding dilapidated schools) during her working visit to Sabah on April 18, in addition to explaining that 60 projects are in the construction process and expected to be completed soon, while the remaining 60 projects are in the pre-construction stage.

— BERNAMA