KUCHING: Women, Childhood and Community Well-being Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah wants more attention paid to character building among preschool and kindergarten children .
She wants all preschools and kindergartens in Sarawak to therefore enhance this emphasis in their establishments.
“It is pivotal and crucial that we take the opportunity to emphasise on character building, especially when the children are this young.
”It is at this age that we can actually help to mould the child into a quality human being, a person who has good moral values,” she said at the ‘Tadika Johan 20th Anniversary, 20th Graduation Ceremony and Annual Concert 2023’ at Borneo Cultures Museum on Sunday (Jan 28).
Fatimah also called on kindergarten and preschool teachers to intervene especially when children fight, taking time to educate and teach the children good values.
”I remember watching some of the children fight over the toys in their kindergarten or preschools, so that’s the time when the teachers could intervene.
”It is at that moment when it is needed, that they are not supposed to fight , not supposed to be violent to each other, and they should learn about sharing, this is part of character building,” she said.
Fatimah said children centered learning is essential to a child’s character development.
She wants Sarawakian children to not only have good knowledge but also good skills and good character.
”We need to instill these things in our children at an early age, that way they will learn to respect one another, respect their teachers, their parents and their elders,” she said.
Also present at the event was Tadika Johan’s Principal, Wong Ai Lin, and Association of Kindergarten Operators Sarawak’s (AKO) Jason Kong.
