Lee hands over the grant to SJK North headmistress Then Fen Nee.
MIRI: The number of Bumiputera pupils in Chinese-medium schools has risen in recent years.
Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Lee Kim Shin attributed the rise to more parents wanting their children to master more languages.
“This is a very good example where our people not only want to be bilingual, but also trilingual because being conversant in more than one language would bring one to a wide variety of opportunities and being in a globalised era nowadays, this is certainly an advantage and an asset,” he said after presenting a RM50,000 grant to SJK North for its multipurpose hall yesterday.
He pointed out that 70 per cent of SJK Chung Hua Tudan pupils are Bumiputera, while at SJK Chung Hua Lutong the figure stood at 60 per cent, SJK Chung Hua Miri – over 25 per cent, and SJK Chung Hua Pujut – 30 per cent.
“This clearly shows that parents want their children to be proficient in other languages and at the same time, this shows how multicultural we are in this state, and that Chinese schools are open to everyone.”
Lee called on the Chinese community to support and work closely with the government.
“Our late chief minister (Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem) had given so much support for all Chinese schools in the state, including Chinese independent schools, and the state has also recognised the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) and, not to mention, students at all our Chinese schools are multiracial,” he said.
Construction on the over RM500,000 SJK North multipurpose hall is now 80 to 90 per cent completed.
SJK North, which was established 58 years ago, currently has 350 pupils.