KUCHING: The Chief Minister’s Department will propose to the State Cabinet the establishment of a foundation to assist the private sector in carrying out its corporate social responsibility (CSR)-related activities in the state.
Its minister Datin Fatimah Abdullah said the foundation, which would be under the state government, would garner and mobilise support and participation from various corporate bodies and business entities such as timber companies, financial institutions, private hospitals and private educational institutions to plan for and contribute to the social, educational and economic wellbeing of the local community.
“The foundation would provide a better mechanism to corporate bodies which are active in carrying out CSR-related activities in the state,” she said in a press conference held during a luncheon hosted by Single Mothers’ Association for its members in Samariang yesterday.
Fatimah was the guest-of-honour of the luncheon.
She said the foundation would also coordinate and monitor all CSR activities or initiatives by corporate bodies to enable a more realistic ‘coverage’ of beneficiaries by attempting to minimise cases of deserving recipients failing to get assistance due to oversight.
In this respect, Fatimah said the foundation, which was yet to be named as its framework was still in the discussion stage, was to identify and enlist deserving individuals, communities and associations.
She stressed that the ultimate aim of the foundation was not to merely dole out financial assistance but to inculcate the culture of self-reliance without having to overly depend on others for assistance.
“We hope to see a productive and meaningful direct involvement and participation of local beneficiaries in all efforts, activities and initiatives to ensure ownership and sustainability in improving their quality of life,” she said, adding the assistance to be given by the foundation would not only be limited to individuals but also communities and associations.
On the decision of the Ministry of Education to introduce new formats for PMR and USR from 2016, Fatimah said while she welcomed the decision, she hoped that all parties involved in the new formats, especially teachers, would be well equipped when they are finally implemented.
She pointed out that past experiences from the implementation of the teaching of science and math in the English language showed that teachers were not ready when it was implemented.
“It is pertinent that whenever we introduce new things, the preparation must be adequate,” she said, adding all teachers are to be given enough training to get them prepared for the implementation phase.
Fatimah, who is a former school principal, pointed out the trickiest part of the new format for PMR is the integrity of the assessment given by teachers.
She said if the teachers were poorly trained on the new format, it would defeat the purpose of introducing the new format.
When asked whether our country was late in introducing the school-based assessment in its education system, the minister said any new concept introduced or implemented in the system must reflect current needs.
“In our context, we are now in the era of globalisation and we are stressing on a high income economy … in order to produce high quality human resource, we have to ensure that we have our own mould that would produce human resource who are not only knowledgeable but also have good moral values,” she said, adding the education philosophy of the country was holistic and that academics was merely one of the aspects stressed in education.