Pau (left) and Dr Sim (second right) as well as secretary general of Sarawak United Associations of Chinese Primary Aided Schools Board of Management Chai Voon Tok (right) meeting up with Mahdzir (centre) recently at Putrajaya.
KUCHING: The Chinese community is hoping that the Education Ministry will expedite the relocation of two Chinese primary schools—Bako Chung Hua Primary School in Kuching and Ming Tak Chinese Primary School in Sarikei.
Local Government Minister Senator Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian and president of Sarawak United Association of Chinese Primary Aided Schools Board of Management Datuk Pau Chiong Ung had recently met with Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid to relay to him some of urgent needs of the Chinese community.
“We met up with him to convey some of the issues which are of utmost concern to the Chinese community. The relocation of the two schools is one of them,” Pau told The Borneo Post yesterday.
He said the Education Minister had responded positively to the matter.
“We hope that since the response is positive, the Education Ministry will expedite the process so that the two schools can be relocated soonest possible,” Pau said.
Another matter the delegation brought up to Mahdzir was the request to put on hold the setting up of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) in every Chinese primary school.
Pau said there are about 220 Chinese primary schools across Sarawak and all of them are governed by a Board of Management.
“The system has worked for us all this while and there is no need for us to set up a PTA in every school. However, all the Chinese primary schools have received a notice from the Education Department in November last year stating that it was compulsory to set up PTAs in the schools.
“As most schools do not see the need to set up a PTA, we have been entrusted by them to bring up their request to the Education Ministry. So when we met up with the Education Minister, we also presented their requests,” said Pau.
Pau said the third important issue the delegation brought up to Mahdzir was the RM50 million which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had promised to allocate to Chinese primary schools across the nation.
“Yes, the announcement has been made that the government will honour the promise. We just hope the funding can be disbursed as soon as possible in view that some of the schools are undergoing renovation and repair work. They do need the funds urgently,” Pau said.