Lau (third right) receives a memento from Huang Sheng.
SIBU: Chairman of SM Wong Nai Siong School Board of Directors, Temenggong Datuk Vincent Lau hopes the Consul-General of People’s Republic of China will continue to aid the development of Chinese Independent Schools in Sarawak.
He said such assistance can be in the form of scholarships, upgrading of local teachers or other areas.
“Through our joint effort and collaboration, I believe it will go a long way to help ensure that the development of the Chinese education here will be sustained,” he added.
Lau said this while welcoming Chinese media delegates from XianNing City, Hubei Province, China at SM Wong Nai Siong yesterday morning.
Among the delegates were Xianning daily president Huang Sheng, Xianning newtork media director Zhu Fengjin, Xianning newspaper director Li Jianwen, Xianning Radio and Television Station director Tian Cihan, Xianning Radio and Television host Xiong Lei and Xianning Radio and Television reporter Shen Pulang.
Lau said they are also looking into signing Memorandums of Understanding with schools in Xianning City to further promote Wong Nai Siong School.
He revealed that SM Wong Nai Siong had signed MoUs with four schools in Fukien Province, China in previous years on interaction and cultural exchange programmes.
On the home front, Lau told the delegates that Chinese education is still popular among Malaysians.
He said 90 per cent of Chinese families prefer to send their children to Chinese primary schools
Lau said there are currently 500,000 pupils studying at some 1,900 Chinese primary schools in the country, with about 100,000 non-Chinese students. Over 60 Chinese Independent schools in the country account for more than 85,000 students.
He singled out a Chinese Independent School in Johor Baru which has about 10,000 students.
He added the Sarawak government under the late Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem had started to allocate grants for the development of Chinese education in the state.
‘It started off with a RM3 million grant in 2014 for 14 Chinese Independent Schools in Sarawak and today, the amount had increased to RM8 million.”
Earlier, delegates viewed a video presentation on the school’s 50th anniversary showing how the school weathered difficult times in the 1990’s and the roles contributed by the management to achieve its present success.