LETTER | The recent proposal by the Sarawak government to set up state-funded international schools in the cities and towns is timely but needs further input and refinement.

Foremost, these international schools will boost the education standards of the younger generations in the state for the years ahead to meet the demands of the digital economy dominating the world today.

These international schools are investments that will augur well for the state’s human resource development, as the standard of education will definitely be much higher than that of the current Malaysian education system.

A number of considerations that ought to be made prior to the setting up of these international schools include criteria for students’ intake, teachers’ qualifications and transparency of annual reports.

If these schools are only for the elite students of the state, then it is likely that only a small percentage will qualify. while some may not opt to go due to the cost involved. Hence, the selection criteria for the international schools should be made clear, and also how much financial support will be provided to eligible students.

Essentially, these proposed schools will be competing with existing private schools in Sarawak which are also offering such education syllabi and will impact their investments in the state.

To attract qualified teachers and administrators, the setting up of these schools must be done in a transparent manner as it involves public funds from Sarawak. Far too many previous state investments projects have been set up without input and knowledge from the people and so raise issues concerning cronyism and other insinuations.

The financial records of these schools should be made available for public scrutiny to ensure that the money is well-spent for the future of the state. When all these issues are satisfactorily looked into, then the government should provide the blueprint for the project and invite comments from the international community too, as this will enable us to have the best possible set-ups for these schools in the state.

Just setting up international schools for elite students is not a guarantee that Sarawak will reap all the benefits, as the students may not stay in the state or return after furthering their studies. A more holistic approach should be adopted before such massive investments are committed, as only then will the people here fully support the proposal.

PHILIP WONG is director for Sarawak Institute for Public Affairs (SIPA), an organisation dedicated to the betterment of the state of Sarawak and Malaysia for a more prosperous, harmonious and fair society.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.