KUCHING: Sarawak is making a big move to strengthen English literacy and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning with the organisation of the inaugural Sarawak English Literary Conference (SELC) 2025.
The landmark event will bring together educators, policymakers, linguists, literacy advocates from across the region and beyond to discuss strategies, enhancing English proficiency and STEM learning in the state.
Organised by the Layar Education Development Committee (LEDC) and supported by the Ministry of Education, Innovation and Talent Development and Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak), the conference is scheduled to take place from Sept 17-19 at the Hikmah Exchange Event Centre (HEEC) here.
Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Deputy Minister Datuk Gerald Rentap Jabu said the conference will include those from Jolly Learning – a United Kingdom (UK) based educational publisher renowned for its innovative and child-centred approach to literacy as well as STEM Learning – a prominent UK organisation dedicated to enhancing education, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
“What we are trying to push is, in terms of literacy, to teach those from a very young age and continue to inspire them to be involved in STEM-related areas.
“This, I believe, aligns with the Premier’s desire to see that our workforce is very knowledgeable and marketable.
“If we look by 2030, we will probably need at least about 5,000 people to enter new industry every year. And most of this involve the field of STEM,” he said.
Rentap who is Layar assemblyman, said this in a press conference on the upcoming conference at BESarawak office here on Tuesday (Mar 18).
The LEDC patron said in the past, education was in English.
“So, this has actually helped a lot of our Sarawakians to be able to go higher in whatever field. A lot of our people are actually overseas because they are proficient in the English language and also able to develop their skills in science and technology,” he added.
Thus, the conference, he said, is focused on developing a skilled and proficient workforce, particularly in STEM; strengthening literacy education through innovation and collaboration; providing educators with practical strategies for classroom success; encouraging community-driven literacy initiatives; and ensuring that literacy education reaches all corners of Sarawak, including rural and underserved areas.
Earlier, LEDC project coordinator Dr Steve Ancheh said the committee has enhanced English literacy in rural Sarawak, particularly in Layar, through the Jolly Phonics programme.
“The English language proficiency is a bit low in Layar, so what we did is that we introduced Jolly Phonics and we started from pre-school.
“Since 2019, the initiative has helped young students develop strong reading and speaking skills, and with one of them excelling in scientific vocabulary,” he said.
He added the programme started with three schools and later expanded to 11 schools, producing significant improvements in students’ confidence and English proficiency.
“Therefore, the two organisations (Jolly Learning and STEM Learning) are collaborating to produce a programme that will help integrate both English literacy and STEM learning.
“We have seen the success in Layar and we also want them to come and share their knowledge with us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the event expects to draw 1,000 delegates including educators, students, corporate leaders, and government officials, and will also feature experts like Gilbert Jolly, Sara Wernham and Sarah Dagnell.
For further inquiries, the public can direct them to sarawakenglishliteracyconf@gmail.com. Alternatively, the conference secretariat can be contacted at +6082-555189.
