KENINGAU, June 5 — The government is in the process of transforming the national education system to develop the potential of students in various fields so as to become a progressive nation, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
He added that the initiative would include the introduction of an assessment system to gauge the intelligence and achievement of students in co-curriculum and non co-curriculum activities.
Speaking to teachers after opening the Sabah state-level Teachers Day celebrations at Dewan Datuk Lee Sen of Sekolah Menengah Ken Hwa, Muhyiddin said the government had spent RM440.8 million of the RM1.3 billion allocated under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK-9) to improve education in Sabah's rural and interior areas.
He added that in addition, the government had allocated RM10.9 million under the first economic stimulus package for upgrading and maintenance of schools in Sabah and another RM7.1 million under the second stimulus package.
"These goes to show beyond any doubt, the government's commitment towards the development of education in Sabah," he said.
Muhyiddin added that the ministry was monitoring the construction of 232 houses being build in Sabah for teachers under RMK-9.
"This is in line with the government's efforts to care for the welfare of teachers and provide them with better living facilities that are close to their schools, so that teachers can carry out their duties more efficiently.
"The rapid physical development must be on par with the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, social and character development of students and this is where teachers play an important role by moulding them.
"It will be useless to have fantastic infrastructure and facilities for education but we fail to develop the potential of students to match them," he said. — Bernama
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