Shortage Of Teachers In Sarawak

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30793, 3 July 1965, Page 2

Shortage Of Teachers In Sarawak

Education is a privilege, not a right, in Sarawak for schooling is not free and parents make many sacrifices to ensure their children the benefits of learning. Miss Dayang Hairuni, home-science supervisor for Sarawak, who is visiting New Zealand to study methods of teaching and organisation, is taking an active part in the Malaysian effort to meet the great demand for education.

“Schooling is not taken for granted and because the children know their parents have to pay, they work very hard and are very serious—too serious sometimes,” Miss Dayang said in Christchurch yesterday. The shortage of secondary schools and teachers meant meant the children had to sit an entrance examination at the age of 11, which eliminated all but the very intelligent. Use Of English “These are the only ones we can afford to educate at the moment. The examination is set in English, which makes it even more difficult," she said. “English is the official language, and taught as a special subject from the beginning of schooling; Gradually its use is increased until the student reaches high school, where all the lessons are taken in English.”

fhinese schools still taught subjects in their own language, but the Government was trying to persuade these schools to use English for instruction. Schools which did not comply did not receive Government aid. Examinations for Chinese schools were set in Hong Kong and the entire syllabus was on a different basis. Many students suffered through this system as it was difficult for them to get work, particularly in Government departments.

Home-science teaching was becoming more important with the emphasis on food and nutrition, but the shortage of teachers was a problem.

“Classes begin at Form 1 but we have only two fully trained teachers who can take classes up to Form 5 level,” said Miss Dayang “I trained in England for three years and when returned it was part of my job to help locally trained girls.” “There are only two teachers' training colleges in Sarawak, and one is still under construction, so we are really pioneers in this field.” Miss Dayang will be in

Christchurch for six weeks travelling with the postprimary school home science supervisor (Miss N. Simpson) to intermediate and secondary schools. She will also see

home-science work with intellectually handicapped children, at the School for the Deaf, and the Giris’ Training Centre, at Burwood. “I am very interested in this work, and as we don’t have specialised training in Sarawak it will widen my horizons,” she said. Well-equipped rooms and advanced methods of teacher training in New Zealand have impressed Miss Dayang, as home-science teaching

is still having “teething troubles” in Sarawak. “Wait and Struggle”

“We ore hoping to have it introduced as a compulsory subject for forms 1 to 3, and as a selective subject after that,” said Miss Dayang. “The new schools are quite modern, but we have to wait and struggle to equip our clothing and cooking rooms. “Electricity is very expensive at home, so you don’t see electric stoves as you have in New Zealand. We use oil cookers, charcoal burners and gas.

“Everything taught in classes must relate to home conditions and it is useless to teach a village girl to use an electric stove when she has only a charcoal burner at home.” Food, toQi was costly and many schools had only clothing lessons in the homescience syllabus because it was cheaper to run these classes.

Much of Miss Dayang’s time is spent in travelling to schools all over Sarawak in “anything that’s available.”

Supervision of Governmentrun boarding schools is included in her duties. As the villages in Sarawak are widely scattered many children have to travel long distances to school.

“Many are too young to paddle boats or walk long disstances, so the Government began a scheme to give them board for which the parents pay in kind. They are all farmers, and it is easier for them to give rice for the meals. The children also help by growing vegetables in school gardens,” she said. Most children who came from jungle areas to attend school did hot want to return to their homes, and this was creating a problem for Sarawak farming. The agriculture department was working closely with educators to promote agricultural studies, and there were many new development schemes to attract young people back to the land.

“Education is the first step to development, and if only we did not have to spend so much money on guns we would be able to do a great deal more,” Miss Dayangsaid.