KUCHING: A bigger budget should be set aside for early childhood education given its role in moulding children from a tender age for leadership roles in future.
Women, Childhood and Community Well-being Development Ministry permanent secretary Datuk Rashidah Bolhassan said this was because early childhood education instills good core values in the young.
“Budgets on early childhood education should be more than what universities receive,” she said, underscoring the importance of setting children up on the right path.
Drawing on her experience living abroad, she said looking at how they teach their children, although they put religion aside, they instill good values – accountability, transparency and responsibility towards the society and family.
“It is the simple things like manners and showing respect, simple things like saying thank you, which is what our children need to be taught as they grow,” she pointed out.
Rashidah was speaking at the SeDidik Appreciation Night 2022 at UCSI Hotel Kuching, on Saturday night (Jan 29).
A board member of SeDidik Sdn Bhd Board she represented Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah, who is also chairman of SeDidik Sdn Bhd.
“Educators and caretakers at SeDidik are the ones who facilitate and teach our children about values,” she said.
“In early childhood education, we must do our part as best as we can to instill good values and shaping our pupils to be decent leaders in the future.”
Towards this end she said a study should be done on the impact of early childhood education on leaders and the leadership of a country.
