KOTA KINABALU: Kindergartens and nursery centres in the state are encouraged to use children’s books published by Sabah Yayasan Group (SYG) in collaboration with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) as one of their learning resources.
Yayasan Sabah director Datuk Sapawi Ahmad said the effort was in line with the need to learn and teach in kindergarten and nursery classes in the state.
“The publishing of children’s story books which are produced by local authors in Sabah is still very limited while the number of kindergartens and nurseries throughout Malaysia has reached thousands of classes with a total of over 200,000 children so far.
“Therefore, SYG, especially the Children’s Development Division (CDD) together with DBP, took the initiative to publish kindergarten books that can be used at any kindergarten in the state,” he said.
Sapawi was speaking at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) ceremony on the publication of books between SYG and DBP, here yesterday.
Sapawi also said apart from CDD, the Research and Economic Development Division was also in the process of compiling several books to be published, including in the ethnographic fields.
He said the books would enrich the community’s knowledge of ethnography as well as help the government understand situations and arrange ethnic development programs.
“Other than that, the Environmental Conservation and Management Division also compiles books on flora and fauna which are abundant in SYG areas including Danum Valley, Maliau Basin and Imbak Canyon.
“Publications on the uniqueness and diversity of flora and fauna are important to the general public to recognize and know the huge benefits of tropical rainforest in the state,” he said.
Meanwhile, he was confident that through the collaboration, SYG could produce more quality and structured writing besides supplementing DBP’s efforts in developing language, literature and Malay literature.
Hence, he hoped the MoU would be the foundation for SYG authors to contribute their research production and experience to be documented for reading, either for children or general knowledge.
Also present were DBP chief director Datuk Abdul Adzis Abas and DBP director for Sabah branch Asmiah Ajamain.