THE use of English in Sarawak as the medium of instruction for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) will be discussed at the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Technical Committee meeting to be held in Kuala Lumpur, tomorrow.
Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said that the matter was among the main points that would be presented in the meeting.
He said that it included aspects of the national education policy which are the main challenges in fulfilling this demand.
“Tomorrow I will hear a report in the MA63 technical committee meeting and one of the points brought up is regarding the fields of education demanded by Sarawak.
“Of course, among the challenges is national policy, especially language policy which sets uniformity in the national education system,” he said.
Fadillah said the discussions on the issue were aimed at finding ways to make it easier for Sarawak to implement STEM learning in English.
According to him, one approach that could be taken is to maintain the existing policy, but introduce certain improvements or specialisations for Sarawak.
“If there is a direct departure from the national policy, perhaps the uniformity of education at the national level will be affected.
“So, maybe we will maintain the basic policy but make additions to suit Sarawak’s needs,” he said.
Asked whether this issue is related to the bilingual programme (DLP) currently being implemented in Sarawak, Fadillah did not rule out the possibility that the matter will be among those to be refined in the meeting.
When asked about Sarawak’s request for educational autonomy, he stressed that it is not a matter of handing over full power but rather considering the appropriate level of autonomy.
“The educational autonomy requested is not full, but to what extent it can be given, will be decided in tomorrow’s meeting,” he said. – August 17, 2025
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