Reclaim education for sake of our children's future - Dr Jeffrey

KOTA KINABALU - “For the sake of our children’s future and their children’s future, the Sabah government has no alternative but to regain control of education in Sabah from the federal Ministry. Any further delay and a whole generation of our students will be sacrificed and their children will also be made to suffer from the continued control of education in Sabah by the federal government” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, commenting that the 2014 SPM results show that Sabah students performed poorly and last amongst all the 13 States and 3 Federal Territories.

If the Sabah government and the Chief Minister and the Minister responsible for Education in Sabah needs proof of the declining standards of education in Sabah, they need look no further than the 2013 and 2014 SPM overall results compared with the rest of the nation.

Sabah finished 16th and last in the number of excellent results category with only 0.49% or 158 students out of 32,197 candidates with the next worst Kelantan with 1.22% or 314 students out of 31,123 candidates which is more than double of Sabah’s results.    This is a huge drop from the 2013 results where Sabah achieved a 1.22% rate of excellent results although it also finished last.

Sabah also finished last in the average grade category with an average GPS of 5.57 points which is miles below Putrajaya with the best GPS of 4.03 points.  This is also a decline from the 2013 results where Sabah achieved an average GPS of 5.30 points.

If a comparison is made with the results of Kota Kinabalu High School (KKHS), an independent Chinese school, it is obvious that something is wrong with the national education system and its implementation.

KKHS obtained an average grade of 4.37 and 100 per cent passing rate for 6 subjects and more than 90% for 9 other subjects with a British student obtaining 10 As and a Malay student with 7 A+.

Sabah’s performance was not helped by the dilapidated school infrastructure which are in urgent need of critical repairs and poor school facilities.   It was reported that many schools do not have proper laboratory facilities and many Science classes do not carry out laboratory practical lessons due to the lack of facilities.

Apparently, the promise of the RM1.0 billion allocation to repair dilapidated schools by the DPM cum Minister of Education in February 2014 has become an empty promise with only RM15.4 million being reportedly received.

The downward spiral of Sabah’s education standards under the federal Ministry leaves much to be desired and needs to be stopped with a change of administration and control.

The Sabah government needs to reclaim control of the education portfolio under its wings and chart the future and destiny of Sabahans on its own instead of relying on the federal government which is a proven failure.  If the Sabah government fails to do so then the failure of Sabah students in the future will be on the heads and shoulders of the Sabah government and the Sabah Umno BN leaders.

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