PTAs urged to form task force committee

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CONGRATULATIONS: A school representative getting the award from Fadillah (second left) as (from left) Jaidah and Juita look on.

KUCHING: Parent-teacher associations (PTA) in Petra Jaya have been urged to form a task force committee as part of a pilot project to discuss ways on how to increase and maintain excellence in their schools.

In making this call, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Fadillah Yusof added that it was not just the responsibility of teachers to raise future knowledgeable and innovative workers but also the responsibility of parents by actively participating in development programmes organised at their respective schools.

“It is found that schools with a track record of excellence often have committed teachers and active PIBG (PTA) members who play their supporting role to ensure that the students are led to the direction of success,” he said at the Kuching District PIBG Excellence Awards presentation ceremony at Yayasan Sarawak yesterday.

He added that it was the responsibility of all, including those at the education department, district education office and also the community around the schools, to give full support to programmes that will encourage the students and the respective schools to achieve excellence.

“These people could even sit down with their elected representatives to discuss strategies on how to raise and maintain excellence of the schools,” he suggested.

If the task force committee was found effective, he said such a committee could be formed in other parts of Kuching too.

“A new landscape had formed over our education system in recent years. Expectations are higher and so is competition.”

As such, he said it was important for us to raise our children to be excellent so that they could contribute to the competitiveness of our nation and the foundation for this begins in schools.

He called on PTA members to continue playing their important role in developing the younger generation to be the knowledgeable and innovative human capital needed to spur the nation towards success.

“Think outside the box for ideas on how to do that,” he said.

At the ceremony, a total of 61 schools received certificates and awards of excellence.

The PIBG Excellence Awards were won by SK St Joseph, SK Rakyat Haji Bolhassan and SK Satria Jaya for the primary school category while SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman, SMK Bandar Samariang and SMK Bako were awarded for the secondary school category.

Also present were state Education Department deputy director Jaidah Alek and Kuching District Education Officer Juita Senawi.