KUCHING: The Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, HE Rusdi Kirana, yesterday officiated at the opening of 18 new registered Community Learning Centres (CLCs) in Sarawak.
According to Rusdi, there are now 52 CLCs built in the plantations in the state.
“There are around 20 to 40 pupils at each CLC,” he said during the opening ceremony held at the Indonesian Consulate at Taman BDC here.
When asked by reporters, Rusdi said the number of non schooling Indonesian children was “too difficult to count at the moment”.
“But by starting the CLCs, we can recount them. The issue of non schooling Indonesian children in Malaysia is really serious.
“If this trend continues in the next 10 to 20 years, it will become a time bomb for both countries,” he added.
Rusdi explained that in the case of the CLCs, the plantation companies would only provide the buildings while the Indonesian government would provide the teachers and books for the pupils.
“At the moment, we are also hoping to get approval from the state government for the building of a secondary school in Sarawak,” he said, adding the first Indonesian secondary school would be built in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and that it would focus on vocational subjects such as motor mechanics, tourism and hospitality.
“We are also waiting for companies to share with us the requirements they need for their human resources,” he added.
Rusdi said that the Indonesian government would talk to the owner of a private secondary school at Entikong, Kalimantan Barat to accept Indonesian children in Sarawak who had completed their studies at the primary level at the CLCs.
“We will give them support as long as they want to accept our children who live here.
“And when we move these children to Entikong, they are already mature enough to live by themselves.
“In Entikong, they will be trained in vocational subjects based on the needs of Malaysian companies,” he said.
