KUCHING: A total of 247 dilapidated schools were identified statewide in the last four years.

Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee (GPS-Nangka) said 62 of them have been rebuilt or upgraded while the rest are in various stages of planning and implementation.

“After the pandemic, the upgrading of these schools began rapidly,” he said in reply to Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman’s (GPS-Tupong) during question time on the fifth day of the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting, today.

On other forms of assistance apart from the physical upgrading of the schools, he said the Ministry of Innovation and Talent Development has planned multiple programmes related to education.

“Among the programmes is the continuous professional development for educators which is to empower leadership and management in schools in line with the second wave of Malaysian Education Quality Standard.

“This is important to further develop education in Sarawak,” he added.

Touching on the mastery of the English language as the second official language in Sarawak, he said his ministry has held various programmes, such as the English Language Education Symposium.

He the programme helped English teachers to strengthen their mastery of teaching and learning.

“Our ministry also holds special courses for teachers who teach dual language subjects and teachers who teach History.

“All in all, we have carried out multiple programmes to empower the learning and teaching among the teachers.

“On top of that, the state government has also spent millions of ringgit to give additional materials to teachers while supplying Raspberry Pi computers to all primary schools in Sarawak,” he said, adding that the Sarawak government also offers financial assistance to the less fortunate students through Sarawak Foundation.

Annuar also pointed out that for the autonomy of education in Sarawak, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government has added such a matter in its manifesto.

“Following the establishment of the unity government, we hope that the autonomy of education and health in Sabah and Sarawak will soon become a reality in the near future,” he said.