KUCHING: The Penan Community Education Programme in Baram is deemed a success as it was well-received by the Penan community.
Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said when the ministry established a preschool in the area, parents gave a positive reaction to the initiative.
“As the location of the preschool is quite far from their longhouse, parents tend to stay at the school until their children finish their classes.
“Due to this, when asked, the parents voiced out that if given the chance, they are interested in learning the basics such as writing, reading, counting as well as following courses such as cooking and so on which can help them to generate income.
“This shows the awareness of the importance of early childhood education,” she said when met by reporters after attending a hi-tea ceremony for the publishing of Women in Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE) ‘Sowing The Seeds for The Future’ book at Pullman Hotel here on Monday (Nov 8).
She also mentioned that the Penan community as well as other ethnicities would want to undergo adult classes if given a chance and they would also want their children to obtain education.
Meanwhile, commenting on the methods used by her ministry to promote early childhood education, she disclosed that they will get the statistics from the State Education Department and will pinpoint the location which has less exposure to early childhood education.
“From there, we will see whether they have preschools or kindergartens in the area or not. If not, we will notify the State Education Department to build one for the area.
“In addition to that, we will also collaborate with the Community Development Department (Kemas) to avoid overlapping,” she said, adding that SeDidik Sdn Bhd has been managing the early childhood education in those areas after the ministry takes over SeDidik.
“When it was put under SeDidik, we were able to make sure the teachers were qualified and the operations of the preschools were guaranteed. This is one of our efforts to not marginalise the Penan community in getting access to early childhood education,” she said.
On another note, Fatimah lauded the undivided commitment given by the teachers of ECCE in improving their skills so that they could give the best to preschool children.
“We in the ministry believe that you are important because you lay the foundation for these children to have the love for learning.
“Preschool teachers also help in developing the love for new things. This foundation will help in good character building,” she said.
