Schools not encouraged to buy books from private sector
Published on: Sunday, August 27, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The Education Ministry does not encourage schools to buy text books from the private sector to avoid facing problems with inaccurate facts. Or worse, with a picture of the country's former Prime Minister deleted.Deputy Education Minister II Senator Datuk Chong Sin Woon said if schools want to they must first check the contents to ensure they are suitable for students.He was referring to a photo of textbook page which went viral on social media showing no mention of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and no picture of him.
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"This is a worst slander that is politically motivated. That's why the Ministry does not encourage schools to buy textbooks from the private sector without checking (their contents) first," he said after presenting Federal Government special allocation cheques to eight conforming schools in Sabah for 2016, Saturday.Chong said the contribution by the former Prime Minister (Tun Dr Mahathir), who is now chairman of the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan, is a historical fact that no one can deny or erase from the country's history. The Form Three textbook was on "Civic Education and Citizenship."The Ministry denied publishing it and lodged a police report against its publisher and its Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid had reportedly said it was a "deliberate act by certain parties."
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Earlier this month, he told the Dewan Rakyat that the Government did not plan to remove Dr Mahathir's achievements from school text books.On the death of a 7-year-old who was allegedly assaulted by his senior at a primary school in Miri two days ago, Chong said the Ministry will take action after police have completed investigations.
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"I'm shocked by the brutality. Since this has been classified as a criminal case, we'll wait for the police," he said.Meanwhile, Chong reiterated that the Federal Government has never neglected the needs and welfare of conforming schools in Sabah and Sarawak.Since 2012, these schools in the state have received a total allocation of RM9.25 million maintenance and other development needs. "If we break the figure down, each school would have received about RM1m until now," he said.The eight recipients of the special allocations were SMJK Tinggi Kota Kinabalu, SMJK Tiong Hua and SMJK Sung Siew from Sandakan, SMJK Lok Yuk Kudat, SMJK Ken Hwa Keningau, SMJK Lok Yuk Likas, SMJK Shan Tao Kota Kinabalu and SMJK Chung Hwa Tenom. The total amount given to these schools was RM1.4 million.Chong also acknowledged the immense contributions from communities and businesses in support of the various schools and hoped it will continue.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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