Priest Seeks Teachers For Sabah Schools

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30882, 15 October 1965, Page 6

Priest Seeks Teachers For Sabah Schools

Coeducational Roman Catholic secondary schools have been the rule in Sabah, North Borneo, for the last 30 years, according to the Rev. Father J. B. Yong, supervisor of schools for the diocese of Jessleton. which covers the whole of Sabah.

Father Yong, who was in Christchurch this week, is spending one month in New Zealand seeking secondary school teachers for the 16 secondary schools run by the diocese.

The schools employed about 100 teachers, including 20 priests, he said. They educated 4500 pupils, fewer than half of whom were not Roman Catholics. “The schools are open to children of all races and religions." said Father Yong. The Mill Hill Sisters and the De La Salle Brothers also ran two segregated secondary schools each.

Although Sabah is 50 per cent Roman Catholic, most of

the church’s members were native people living in the interior. In the town areas, which fed the secondary schools, Roman Catholics formed between 10 and 20 per cent of the population. Roman Catholic secondaryschools, which outnumbered Government secondary schools, received full subsidies. The Government paid a capitation grant of about five Malaysian dollars a pupil and provided half of building costs.

Because the Government wanted to raise the educational standards of natives in the interior, it recently made a grant of a million Malaysian

dollars to establish a Roman Catholic secondary school there.

Father Yong said secondary schools were short of teachers. However the church wanted to release 70 per cent of the priests involved in supervising schools for pastoral work. At present, the principal and manager of every secondary school in the diocese was a priest. The Roman Catholic schools in the diocese employed lay teaihers from India, the Philippines, the American Peace Corps and Volunteer Service Abroad. Father Yong said he wanted at least six secondary school teachers a year from New Zealand, New Zealand teachers with degrees could teach English literature, geography, history and science. The schools also could use an art teacher, and would make good use of any spare science equipment. Teachers interested should write to the Rev. T. Power, Catholic Education office, 245 Cashel street, Christchurch.