SANDAKAN – Recently, a video showing now-retired primary school principal George Odoi living in a store room for the past five years in Telupid, here, went viral.
This raises concerns over the lack of facilities and dilapidated schools in Sabah – prompting the question on why schools in the state are in such bad condition.
When it comes to shortcomings involving education facilities in Sabah, local politicians and leaders would immediately point fingers at the federal government – the Education Ministry.
This is because education in Sabah and Sarawak fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government, as stated in the Report of the Intergovernmental Committee 1962 (IGC Report), containing demands by Sabah and Sarawak, stipulated in 20-point and 18-point agreements respectively.
The report listed Education and Health under Federal List 13 (a) (for North Borneo & Sarawak only) under the Federal List.
Over the years, there have been growing reports of dilapidated schools in Sabah – from the almost-impossible road connectivity forcing pupils to risk their lives by crossing a river with a zipline, to the lack of internet access that had teachers knocking from door-to-door to collect homework during the pandemic.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, in a Dewan Rakyat session last week, revealed that there are 1,156 schools in Malaysia with dilapidated buildings at a scale of 6 to 7, with 406 of them located in Sabah.
Dilapidated schools at the scale of 6 to 7 means that the buildings are no longer safe for use.
Activist and former chief executive officer of the Institute for Development Studies Sabah,Datuk Johan Ariffin Samad, pointed out the lack of allocation from the Education Ministry to Sabah and Sarawak for years as one of the reasons contributing to this figure.
He said while the Education Ministry was allocated the highest amount of funds under Budget 2024 at RM58.7 billion – almost 20% of the overall budget – he questioned how much will actually be used to repair and replace dilapidated schools in Sabah and Sarawak.
Johan said Sabah should emulate Sarawak which has been using the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) arguments to push for more autonomy to decide its future.
“Sarawak has done a remarkable job of gaining control over education. The federal government has in principle agreed to return autonomy in education and health to Sarawak,” said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
“The Sarawak government is planning to build five international schools to nurture local students for elite universities abroad.
“It also proposes to offer free education for Sarawakian students studying in local universities before the year 2030, if the proposed state’s sovereign wealth fund brings in good returns.
“It has (also) maintained English as the lingua franca for official dealings and promotes its use in its education system.
“Therefore, Sarawak is a progressive society using education to build the future – (I) can’t say much for Sabah which has remained muted over education, health, and other MA63 matters.
“Unlike Sarawak, procrastination seems to be Sabah leaders’ strongest point and ensuing failure.
“A good example is the 40% tax-sharing claim. It’s already stated in the federal constitution but Sabah leaders are still waiting for a formula after 60 years,” he told Scoop.
The lack of allocation for education in Sabah seemed to be the biggest culprit here, leading Warisan’s Tungku assemblyman Assafal P. Alian to propose a “Borneo Education System”.
Assafal, in a recent statement, said that the system would ensure that the huge annual budget allocation worth billions for the Education Ministry will be spent to achieve its aspirations for the current and future needs of both Sabah and Sarawak.
He also opined that Sabah should emulate Sarawak, which had mulled to create its own assessment examination for Year 6 students in government schools, aimed at providing them with the necessary guidance to make well-informed choices between science and arts streams as they progress to secondary school.
“The idea was not to break away from the federal Education Ministry, but to assert Sabah’s and Sarawak’s position as the founding partners of the federation.
“But Sabah and Sarawak must first reach a consensus on this matter and present their case as a united front to the federal government,” he added. – November 27, 2023