Jenifer (back row, fifth left) with the winners of the jingle competition yesterday.
KOTA KINABALU: The core element in education is pupils, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
In his speech during the Gaya Academic Decathlon (GADe) 2019: Chief Minister Challenge Trophy held at the main hall of the Teacher Education Institute Gaya Campus here, he said students needed to learn without pressure and coercion and the world is their school for learning to help them digest knowledge in their minds.
He said Sabah is in need of highly educated and skilled human capital to meet the challenges of the future and ensuring more sustainable development efforts can be brought to the state.
His speech was delivered by Assistant Education and Innovation Minister Jenifer Lasimbang during the closing ceremony of GADe, which was organized by the Teacher Education Institute Gaya Campus in collaboration with the Sabah State Education Department, yesterday.
“Sabah government is very committed to the education sector as its main agenda is to produce a highly educated society as efficient, skilled, and quality human capital to drive future state development.
“Our education system must be constantly dynamic and progressive and ready to go through the process of change and renewal as time goes on. In other words, we need to produce excellent and competent students to achieve quality standards in realizing our aspirations and national agenda,” he said.
Talking about the program, he said the implementation of such a program is highly welcomed as it is an effort to produce students who are creative in education.
“The GADe initiatives and programs clearly give the students full focus and attention. They need to learn without pressure and coercion. The world is a school of learning for them to make the Problem based learning and Project based learning process a part of fun learning that will help the process of digestion in the minds of the students. In fact, it is also one of our aggressive efforts to begin moving toward the paradigm of student-centered learning.
“I hope that this program will help teachers to ensure that their (the students’) leisure time is filled with beneficial activities as well as preparation before they move on to secondary schooling.
“Scholastic competition-based events for elementary school students are held in this program where GADe will test the intelligence and fitness of students covering the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains.
“The program is also aimed at providing space and opportunities for academic and non-academic contests across the curriculum. Promote team-based learning, help students in problem-based learning and project based learning and promote thinking skills, bilingual skills and leadership through fun activities,” said Jenifer.