SarawakYES!

  • Home
  • Career Advice
  • Education
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Digital Economy
✕

Adenan Satem’s legacy in education

Education, Newspaper Column

Adenan Satem’s legacy in education

sarawakyes.com January 16, 2017

On Wednesday, Sarawak mourned the loss of Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem.

As chief minister, he brought a new style of leadership to the state, which was both fresh and intriguing not only to the people of Sarawak but for people throughout the country as well.

Throughout his first two years at the helm of leadership, Adenan brought many issues to the fore, including his focus on Sarawak’s autonomy, empowerment, environmental protection as well as reducing and abolishing fees for various services.

All these and more were emphasised under what he coined his ‘53 Principles & Actions’, which he introduced from the time he took his oath of office on Feb 28, 2014 right up to the middle of last year.

We at SarawakYES! would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of his significant contributions to education in the state, during his brief tenure as chief minister.

One of the most important decisions he made was giving state government recognition to the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) to obtain Yayasan Sarawak loans or scholarships and also for those interested to enter the state civil service.

When this decision was announced, it made Sarawak one of the most progressive states in the country, if not the most progressive, in terms of supporting Chinese-medium schools.

Apart from that, in recognition of the important role played by Chinese independent schools in the state, Adenan also provided funds for these schools, with RM5 million given out to them last year alone.

He was also very focused on promoting and increasing opportunities in technical education among the young people of Sarawak.

As such, Sarawak made Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) a top priority and the state even started its own technical institute – Centre of Technical Excellence (CENTEXS).

Under Adenan’s administration, Petronas gave its commitment to invest RM420 million for human capital development through TVET in Sarawak, for five years, up to 2019.

To better serve the education needs of the state, Adenan also initiated a move to have more local teachers teaching in Sarawak and his efforts bore fruit when the federal government agreed to the state’s request – that by next year, 90 per cent of teachers teaching in Sarawak will be Sarawakians.

He was also very intent on promoting the use of English among the people of Sarawak, as he felt mastery of the language would allow Sarawakians to be more competitive and competent on a global stage.

As such, Sarawak adopted English as its second official language, alongside Bahasa Malaysia. This meant that official correspondence for the state government could either be in English or Bahasa Malaysia.

Currently, the state government is negotiating for English to be the medium for non-national schools in Sarawak.

This is a weekly column by SarawakYES! – an initiative driven by Faradale Media-M Sdn Bhd and supported by Angkatan Zaman Mansang (AZAM) Sarawak – to provide advice and stories on the topics of education and careers to support Sarawakians seeking to achieve their dreams. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

This article first appeared on The Borneo Post, visit this link: http://bit.ly/2is3sWb

Author: sarawakyes.com

Previous Article

Preserving Dayak heritage through entrepreneurship

Next Article

Making the work-study balance possible

Latest Posts

The Nature of Employment in Tourism

The Nature of Employment in Tourism

Creating a Career Development Plan

Creating a Career Development Plan

The Advantages and Challenges of Self-Employed Youth

The Advantages and Challenges of Self-Employed Youth

Categories

  • Career Advice
  • Day in the Life
  • Digital Economy
  • Education
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Newspaper Column
  • Resume and Cover Letter Advice
  • Sarawak Jobs
  • SarawakYES! News

About SarawakYES!

SarawakYES! is an initiative aiming to build a better future for all Sarawakians.

At SarawakYES! we want to help Sarawakians discover opportunities to pursue their dreams and achieve their goals.

An important part of this is providing them access to great education, which will allow them to start building careers and lives that are rewarding and enriching.

Through our blog and social media channels, we offer practical and useful information to help guide people on their journey towards attaining academic and career success.

Archives

Tags

Bintulu Borneo business career career development career path career planning careers digital economy digital entrepreneurship digital technology education employability employment engineering entrepreneur entrepreneurship job job application job search Kuching Malaysia Miri online entrepreneurship personal personal development personal management productivity Sarawak Sibu skills social media soft skills study technical education technical training technology tips TVET university vocational education work work experience workplace youth entrepreneurship
Arba WordPress Theme by XstreamThemes.