URBAN - RURAL EDUCATION GAP & THE ABSENCE OF EQUALITY IN OPPORTUNITY

URBAN - RURAL EDUCATION GAP & THE ABSENCE OF EQUALITY IN OPPORTUNITY

 https://www.newsarawaktribune.com.my/rural-urban-education-gaps-need-to-be-tackled/

Hamid Bugo is not stating anything new here. The issue of the urban-rural education gap has plagued the rural communities in Sarawak for a long time. It is also an issue that, despite being constantly highlighted in the media and by politicians from both of the divide, has not seen significant  improvements made to it.

The sum total of the failure of the education system in the context of Sarawak is the inability of the system to improve equality of opportunity. The commonly held belief is that good education is key to the ability of anyone to escape poverty but the policies of Malaya-driven federal government is not pointed in this direction. 

To have a better perspective of the issue we first must recognise and acknowledge that the B40 households in rural Sarawak is not decreasing. If anything, it has increased to a level which makes the term B40 no longer appropriate to describe this hardcore poor group. The statistics from the Bantuan Sara Hidup programme for 2019 shows that the B40 households in Sarawak constitutes about 52% of the total household in Sarawak. With the so-called new poor created by the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps the more appropriate description now is B60.

These B40 families who are most in need of an education system that is capable of giving equality of opportunity are the very groups that has become the victims of this failed education system.

In what areas of the education system had the government failed rural Sarawak? As it is easier to see symptoms than to understand policies, let us list down the signs and symptoms that is hard to miss.

1.Dilapidated Schools

   

According to Manyin, 1,200 out of 1,457 schools in Sarawak have been identified as dilapidated. From the 1,200 dilapidated schools, 415 were beyond repair and had to be rebuilt.

https://serian.sarawak.gov.my/modules/web/pages.php?mod=news&sub=news_view&nid=452

A fire broke out at one of two teacher’s quarters of Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Batu Bungan, Mulu, early yesterday morning killing one primary school teacher and injuring two others (teachers).

https://www.newsarawaktribune.com.my/one-teacher-dies-two-others-injured-in-school-fire/

There are close to 470,000 students in Sarawak, with 42,000 teachers, according to the State Education Department. Over half of the students are from rural areas.

 

In June this year, a primary school in a fishing village in Spaoh, Betong, collapsed into a river, taking along with it a nursery and a surau. Fortunately, no one was injured.

https://sarawakvoice.com/2016/09/10/adenan-voicing-out-is-frustration-at-the-education-ministry-is-understandable/

2.Teachers From Peninsular Malaysia

He said Sarawak has a lot of rural schools and often teachers who were placed at these schools would seek transfer to schools in urban areas after teaching for two to three years.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/10/01/sarawak-teachers-to-undergo-training-to-teach-science-maths-in-english-this/1908327

3.Low Intake Of Sarawakians Into Sarawak’s IPG

    ( Institut Pendidik Guru)

But for some strange reason, the intake of Sarawakians into our two teacher-training colleges has always been low. Last year, of the 6,267 applicants who applied for admission into those colleges, only 152 applicants from Sarawak were successful.

https://www.theborneopost.com/2010/01/03/teachers%E2%80%99-woes-in-rural-sarawak/

4.Lack Of Facilities Especially For Teaching STEM Subjects

Once again, the beginning of another school year will showcase the stark reality of the great disparity between urban and rural schools, in terms of school buildings and other physical amenities, the strength and quality of the teaching staff, and teaching aids like computers and lab equipment.

https://www.theborneopost.com/2010/01/03/teachers%E2%80%99-woes-in-rural-sarawak/

5.Severe Lack Of Internet Connectivity

In Sarawak, teacher takes students, parents on two-hour jungle trek... in search of internet

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/11/18/teacher-takes-students-parents-on-two-hour-jungle-trek-for-internet-in-lubo/1923813

Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) Baleh chief Koh Kumbong said today that there should be no reason why the authorities should reject his party’s efforts to help provide internet access in rural areas, especially schools using the ConnectMe system.

https://www.theborneopost.com/2020/12/01/whats-wrong-with-giving-rural-schools-internet-access-psb-baleh-chief-asks/

The GPS government of Sarawak, previously called BN, has not shown any motivation to solve all this problems afflicting the schools in Sarawak. They blamed the federal government for all these afflictions but they have been part of the federal government since Sept 1963, except for a brief 22 months (from May 2018 - Feb 2020) when they were an opposition government.

We do need a new paradigm in the education policies but more importantly now, we need a new government.