SIBU: State government policies on education are well-calculated and implemented to prevent a brain drain.
“We have so many young talents and people with great abilities and skills and we cannot afford to lose them,” said Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing, and Local Government Michael Tiang.
“That is why we continue to recognise UEC because it is one of the ways to avoid a brain drain in the state.
“We have great talents in Sarawak, and it does not just come from mainstream education but also Chinese education,” he said while officiating at the Early Learning and Development Conference at Methodist Pilley Institute today (Nov 26).
The state government under the leadership of Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg also creates various initiatives to further enhance education throughout the state, he said.
These include setting up five Yayasan Sarawak International Schools in the state to produce globally competent students, setting up a sovereign wealth fund to strengthen the state’s financial sustainability and providing free tertiary education to its people via this fund in the future, and more.
“Our dream for the future is to see that no Sarawakian would say that they didn’t go to school because they couldn’t afford it, or they have to seek education elsewhere due to lack of quality and lack of opportunities in education here.
“The Sarawak government has a great plan to ensure that not one child is left behind in education,” he said.
On the conference, Tiang said it is important as all the delegates could learn from one another to provide for better learning environments and quality, especially during this post-Covid-19 period as it has had a significant impact on early childhood education.
“Although life has almost gone back to almost normal now, I believe teachers and parents still can feel the effect of Covid-19 on their children’s education.
“Despite having supportive remote learning experiences, school closures have resulted in actual learning losses.
“Nevertheless, as our children are catching up with their studies, I hope that this kind of issues can be discussed at the conference,” he said.
