Cyberjaya - Asean education ministers will meet on Friday for informal talks on education issues in the region and efforts to foster closer ties among their youth.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the ministers also wanted students across the region to know the countries and cultures of one another in order to lay the foundation for future Asean leadership.
"We also want to instil in our children values that Asean grew up with, like unity and strength in diversity and tolerance for other cultures and religions.
"These are values that have placed us ahead of some countries which say they are developed but have social problems like indiscipline and the breakdown of families," he said when launching the Ma-laysia-Asean School Linkage Programme at Sekolah Seri Puteri here yesterday.
Ministers will also discuss education in the context of increased migration of people between Asean countries.
"We`ll address education issues in the context of migrant workers, their children and the host countries," Hishammuddin said.
Malaysia will share its experience in Sabah, where in certain areas children of migrant workers were taught the Indonesian school syllabus by Indonesian teachers.
"The Malaysian government had intentionally asked Indonesia to allow its teachers to teach there, so that migrant children can one day return to Indonesia and adjust to their school system."
Asked about the children of foreign workers from Asean countries in Malaysian public schools, Hishammuddin said there were not many.
On the Malaysia-Asean School Linkage Programme, he said Asean ministers had agreed at previous ministerial meetings that it would be one of the ways to strengthen regional ties at school-level.
For the inaugural programme, 88 students from the 10 member countries are in Malaysia to join in the 50th Merdeka celebration. Their week-long stay will include a homestay with local families, a visit to Malacca and a trip around Kuala Lumpur.
On the Higher Education Ministry`s "Strategic Plan for Higher Education", which the prime minister launched on Monday, Hishammuddin said his ministry would ensure that there was co-ordination and continuity between lower and tertiary education. He plans to hold the ministry`s convention on the national education blueprint together with the Higher Education Ministry.
On "raids" by education officers on tuition centres, Hishammuddin said these were merely "checks" to ensure that the tuition teachers, some of whom are also school teachers, were not giving tuition without proper consent from their schools.
"I tell my officers not to be overzealous. They are not there to stop or close down the tuition centres but just to check if the teachers are complying with the conditions and are not jeopardising their core business, which is to teach in schools."
A newspaper reported that parents and students had complained of "raids" disrupting tuition lessons.
Source: www.nst.com (29 Agustus 2007)
