Chief Minister refuses to allow Federal Government to convert the colleges into technical institutes.
PETALING JAYA: The Sarawak state government is standing up to a federal decision to convert two teacher-training colleges into technical institutes.
Chief Minister Adenan Satem described it as a stupid decision and said he had told the prime minister.
“Closing the two teachers’ colleges will affect the intake of trainee teachers in Sarawak and the need to fulfill the ratio of 90 percent local teachers and 10 percent from outside the state by 2018,” he said.
The Education Ministry is believed to have plans to convert the colleges in Miri and Bintangor into polytechnics, as part of a programme for increased vocational education. There are two other teachers’ colleges, in Batu Lintang, Kuching and in Kota Samarahan.
The Prime Minister, Najib Razak, has said that nine unused teacher-training colleges would become polytechnic institutes or vocational colleges.
Sarawak State Minister of Education, Fatimah Abdullah, had expressed regret that the state government had not been consulted by the Federal Government. FMT
