BAU: The state government is going to replace between 250 and 260 dilapidated schools in Sarawak within two years.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said the construction of new schools is part of a special catch-up plan to improve the quality of education in Sarawak.
He said the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research under Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong recently held a workshop attended by all education officers in the state.
“So they have identified the schools, some of them have to be merged because of low enrolment. But even then we will still have to build between 250 and 260 schools within two years.
“This is a special catch-up plan because if we were to wait for the normal procedures, we could not meet the targets as these schools must be replaced,” he told reporters after launching the Tasik Biru Festival here yesterday.
Abang Johari lamented that under Public Works Department (JKR) requirements, some of the schools are no longer fit for occupation.
“So we cannot take chances. If they (federal government) do not have the allocated sum for our schools, what we do is to finance the projects with our own bank and they have to pay us back later,” he said.
On the timeframe set for the federal government to pay the state he said: “That one is OK because we also have debts with the federal government”.
In his speech, Abang Johari said the state has already invested in tertiary education facilities such as Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, Curtin University Malaysia, and University College of Technology Sarawak, and would do the same with upper secondary education.
“I told the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak), Sir, I am not going to take the purview of education and that education will still be a federal matter. But Sarawak wants to assist you and at the same time, we want to make sure that our younger generation will get the right education for the future of Sarawak,” he said.