KUCHING: Deputy Minister of Law, Malaysia Agreement and State-Federal Relations Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said allowing Sarawak to recruit teachers under the contract of service was one of the administrative matters agreed to under the education autonomy.
She said the other matter related to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) was to allow Sarawak to implement assessment tests for Year 6 and Form 3 students, subject to conditions set by the federal Education Ministry.
"The Sarawak government will also implement TVET programmes based on the needs and requirements of the state," she said when answering questions from Billy Sujang (GPS-Opar) during a question-and-answer session in the Sarawak State Assembly.
Sharifah Hasidah said other administrative matters accorded to Sarawak were the involvement of the state government in the planning of educational development and the sharing of information on the transfer of senior education officers from the state Education Department to the Education Ministry headquarters.
She said it was also agreed that the federal government would channel sufficient funds for the management and operations to the state Education Department.
Sharifah Hasidah said the state government was given the power to approve and fund educational projects, apart from the federal government. She said this was important to ensure that educational projects were implemented according to schedule and would take into consideration the needs of the people.
On health autonomy, she said several committees had been formed to discuss and resolve the requests submitted by the state government. She said the federal government had given its cooperation to the Sarawak and Sabah governments to upgrade the health services in the two states.
She said a joint action committee, co-chaired by the federal health minister and Sarawak deputy premier, had agreed to upgrade the status of health facilities and dilapidated clinics.
"However, there is a lot that needs to be discussed and we hope that more can be achieved in the agreement," she said.