Ministry: Manyin acknowledges teachers not at fault

0

KUCHING: The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research clarifies that its minister Dato Sri Michael Manyin ‘has always acknowledged that the low performance of STEM subjects amongst students in Sarawak is not the fault of teachers’.

In a press statement received here yesterday, the ministry said the minister also concurred with the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) that the lack of facilities in Sarawak was among factors that contributed to the overall poor performance of its students.

“The ministry also recognises the fact that enrolment into science stream in Sarawak is low compared to the national target of 40 per cent.

“Sarawak’s current enrolment in science stream is only 23.2 per cent,” said the ministry in response to The Borneo Post’s article dated Oct 25 that carried the headline ‘NUTP says unfair to blame teachers for poor grades in STEM subjects’.

The ministry said its previous statement already mentioned that a total of 550 teachers who were not trained to teach science are teaching the subject, especially in rural schools.

To address the issue, the ministry and Sarawak Education Department have agreed to provide training to those teachers under the Option-added Programme for Non-option Science teachers.

Since last year, the ministry along with the department had carried out numerous engagement sessions with the various stakeholders including school leaders, teachers training institutes, universities, parents, teachers and non-governmental organisations, to identify the issues and root causes of problems in education in Sarawak, the statement said.

“As a result of these engagements, the ministry has embarked on holistic programmes through collaboration with Sarawak Education Department, Headmasters Council, Institut Aminuddin Baki, Science Teachers Council and NGOs in efforts to improve Sarawak’s performance in education, particularly in STEM subjects.”

Some of these programmes include school leadership capacity-building, train the trainers, option-added programme for non-option Science, Math and English language teachers as well as workshops, seminars and conferences to complement continuous professional development of teachers in Sarawak.

The ministry believed that interest in STEM must be nurtured during the early stages of schooling.

As such, it has initiated the drafting of the Sarawak STEM Strategy to support the measures outlined in the Malaysia Education Blueprint, and bring about cohesive efforts and strategies to elevate the quality of STEM education in Sarawak, from as early as lower primary school.

“In relation to inadequate facilities, the ministry  concurs that it does play a role in the performance of students.

“To address this, the Sarawak government together with Education Dept is also undertaking efforts to improve the condition of school infrastructure, facilities and amenities, especially those in the rural areas. This includes connection to treated water supply and electricity supplies,” said the statement.

It added that the ministry and Sarawak Education Dept had presented these issues to both former and current federal ministers of education, and remained optimistic that the new federal government would take immediate action to resolve them.

“The ministry also welcomes the support from all parties to improve the education eco-system in Sarawak, and therefore, urges the NUTP to also continue in their efforts to escalate such issues to the Ministry of Education,” the statement added.