Uggah (fourth right) and Manyin (fifth right) lead the Hidup BN chanting at the end of the function.
SERIAN: It is good news for primary and secondary school students in Sarawak, as well as their parents, that schools across the state are allowed to replace five holidays before the start of the nationwide official mid-year school-term break next year.
Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Dato Sri Michael Manyin announced yesterday that the mid-term school break in Sarawak next year would commence on May 28, and could run until June 24 should the schools apply for these replacement holidays.
The five extra holidays, June 4 to 8, could be replaced during these suggested dates – Jan 27, Feb 24, March 24, April 28 and May 26.
The official mid-year school-term break next year will run from June 9 to 24.
“The Minister of Education (Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid) has made a decision that for Sarawak, the holidays will start on May 28 (and run) until June 3. But for June 4 to 8, the schools (in Sarawak) can take ‘cuti gantian’ (replacement holidays) on these five days, by applying to their respective district education officers.”
“This means that once the replacement holidays are approved, Sarawak schools can actually have holidays from May 28 until June 24,” he told reporters here after launching Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Tebedu branch triennial general meeting (TGM) at Tayung Langui Hall in Kampung Pichin.
Based on next year’s schooling schedule, the 16-day mid-year break runs from June 8 to 23 for schools in Kedah, Johor, Kelantan and Terengganu; and from June 9 to 24 for schools in Perlis, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Melaka, Pahang, Sabah, Sarawak as well as the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.
The initial exclusion of extra holidays for Gawai had caused uproar among the Dayaks, since the festival had always been included as part of the mid-term holidays.
The extra holidays, albeit being replacement ones, would enable Dayak students and their parents to celebrate Gawai at their respective hometowns, longhouses and villages.
Hari Raya Aidilfitri is the other public holiday in June, slated for either June 15 or 16.
With this matter now resolved, Manyin expressed his hope that everyone would be happy following the agreement given by the federal Education Minister on Nov 28 to allocate the five replacement holidays for Sarawak – following the meeting with all state Education directors at Putrajaya.
“This is something that we had fought for, and of which we had written to the Education Minister. And he has agreed to our suggestion,” said Manyin.
Prior to this, the Education Ministry had agreed to allocate two extra holidays for students in Sarawak on May 30 to 31 prior to Gawai Dayak next year, in response to dissatisfaction raised by Dayak parents to the 2018 school-term schedule.
Deputy Chief Minister and acting PBB deputy president Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who came to officiate at PBB Tebedu TGM, also commented by saying that the announcement of the replacement holidays was a good news to the Dayak community.