Earn your scholarships – Dompok

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PENAMPANG: Schools in Sabah must be more competitive in striving for better grades so that more students from the state can qualify for Federal Government scholarships.

United Pasokmomogun KadazanDusun Murut Organization (UPKO) president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok cited the Sijil Pelajaran Menengah (SPM) examination results as example where schools in Sabah have not fared too well.

“What we notice in Sabah is that we are not yet as competitive as the schools in Peninsular Malaysia in as far as grades in SPM are concerned. It is for this reason that the government has decided to give a five per cent quota of its scholarship for Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputeras.

“Only last year, I have seen an increase in the number of scholarship recipients to 102 from Sabah because of the new provision that there must be five per cent from Sabah to get the Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships,” he said.

The Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister cum Penampang member of parliament who was met after officiating at SK Buayan environment development and preservation program however questioned the need to set a quota for Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputera students.

“Why do we need a quota? After 47 years of Malaysia, there should not be a reason for Sabah to look upon quota as a means towards getting scholarships from the PSD,” he said, adding that the situation should not be happening at all.

There is an urgent need to look deeper into the issue, he said, adding that he discussed the matter with relevant quarters during his recent visit to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) as he believed that there are many pertinent issues to be addressed.

Dompok also spoke about problems in the past with teachers posted in Terian and Buayan where most did not stay long because of the culture shock they experienced.

The teachers were not used to the surrounding and since they haven’t lived in a remote village before, they found it very difficult to accustom themselves to the local conditions.

As a result of the culture shock, the teachers then tried to spend as much time as possible outside the village, he said, adding, “I think it is for this reason there have not been many teachers who go there.

“Lately I am told the teachers who are posted in these two villages are now happier because they are receiving a special allowance of RM1,500 over and above their pay. This rural allowance has helped them a bit,” he said.

Asked to comment on Sabah Education Exco Datuk Masidi Manjun’s suggestion that Sabahans be given priority to be recruited as teachers to fill in the vacancies in the state, Dompok said that he agreed with it.

According to him, the information he received showed that 82 per cent of Sabahan teachers are serving in the state with the remaining 18 per cent serving in other parts of the country.

“My suggestion is that teachers who are from Sabah, should be posted in the state unless they want it themselves as there are people who would like to teach in Peninsular Malaysia, for purposes that are convenient to themselves such as they are probably married or getting married there so they want to be posted there.

“There are many teachers who would like to serve in their home state and I feel that this should be allowed because the reason why they want to become teachers is they would like to serve in that profession.

“They will be better utilized if they are happier. I do not think that an unhappy teacher can contribute very much. For a teacher who is forced to serve somewhere else will be thinking of going back to his or her hometown all the time,” he said.

Dompok added that the Education Department should reconsider the matter and make a bit of adjustment to the system.

“I have been told one of the reasons why the Sabahan teachers are posted in Peninsular Malaysia and vice-versa is that the country wants integration.

“I think teachers are there to teach, they are not trained to be people who are responsible for integration in this country,” he stressed.