Kudos for Chinese schools

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Head of State praises Kuching High School for preparing its students well to succeed in life

Taib waving at cheering students at Kuching High School from their courtyard during the official opening of their new administration and classroom blocks.

Taib waving at cheering students at Kuching High School from their courtyard during the official opening of their new administration and classroom blocks.

Taib stopping to speak to one of the students.

Taib stopping to speak to one of the students.

Mahdzir walks past smiling students during a tour of the school premises.

Mahdzir walks past smiling students during a tour of the school premises.

KUCHING: Chinese schools have a tradition of producing students with high discipline which is worthy of emulation, Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said.

Speaking at the official opening of Kuching High School’s new administration and classroom blocks yesterday, Taib said this trait had allowed Chinese schools to produce individuals with high determination to succeed in their undertakings.

“This school has done very well and contributed to the highest standard performance of our society. Now we have to step up the performance to include people of all races and people with rural background where their amenities are not the same and preparation for basic education not the same,” he said.

He added that students must be groomed for the role they have to play when they leave school to prepare them to succeed in life.

“Over the years, time will change us. Things change, but one thing we must remember: excellence cannot be achieved without hard work.”

He also reminded that equality means tapping opportunities with one’s greatest ability.

“Our best people must produce the best results. The mediocre people can improve themselves by working hard with the best people. This is how nations are built.”

Noting that not everyone is a genius, he pointed out that the efforts of a few to lay down conditions of competition and productivity can inspire great things in people who are not the best to produce better results in conjunction and cooperation with others.

Taib was accompanied by his wife Toh Puan Dato’ Sri Ragad Kurdi Taib.

Others present were Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid; Communications Assistant Minister Lee Kim Shin representing Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem; Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah and Kuching Teochew Association president Ir Goh Leng Yeu.

In a message conveyed by Lee, Adenan said the ultimate test of a successful education system is whether we could produce people who can solve problems in our daily lives using the knowledge they learned from within and outside the school.

“How well are our graduates able to resolve conflicts that arise from time to time, how do we build a harmonious and better society and how do we innovate and grow, making great achievements in science, arts, technology and much more.

These are the ultimate tests of a good education.”

In his speech, Mahdzir said Sarawak is a very important state in terms of achieving the educational aspirations of Malaysia as 1,451 out of the 10,134 schools in the country are situated in Sarawak.

“This manifests the commitment of the Ministry of Education in providing equal access to quality education for every child in the land of Sarawak.

The successful dissemination of knowledge and critical thinking skills in the classroom will have a positive direct impact on the attainment of quality education in the nation,” he said.

He noted that there had been great achievements in education policies such as eradicating illiteracy.

“We managed to increase the primary school enrolment to 94 per cent and decrease primary school dropout from three per cent in 1989 to only 0.2 per cent in 2011.”

He also said enrolment rates at the lower secondary school level had risen to 87 per cent and the enrolment rates for upper secondary had almost doubled from 45 per cent in the 1980s to 78 per cent in 2011.

“We have also achieved increased percentage of literacy in secondary and post-secondary education.”

In December 2008, several blocks of Kuching High School went down in flames.

This prompted Kuching Teochew Association and Kuching High School Rebuilding subcommittee to raise funds to rebuild the blocks.

Among those who came forward with donations were the Education Ministry, state government and Taib.