SIBU: Public awareness of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is at a moderate level, while knowledge of the 1962 Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) report remains low and limited, said Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee.
The Education, Innovation and Talent Development Deputy Minister said this conclusion was drawn from an online survey on the level of knowledge about MA63 and the 1962 IGC Report conducted by his office on May 17.
“The survey, which involved 2,000 respondents from among professionals in Sarawak, was conducted to assess their understanding of Sarawak’s rights in education as enshrined in MA63 and the educational rights of Sarawak mentioned in the 1962 IGC Report,” he said in a Facebook post today.
The Nangka assemblyman said that the first question posed was “are you aware of Sarawak’s rights in the field of education as enshrined in MA63?”, to which 62.4 per cent responded yes, while 37.6 percent said no.
“This shows that the level of understanding is still not sufficient, as one in three respondents are still unaware of this fundamental matter,” he added.
Meanwhile, the second question was “are you aware of Sarawak’s educational rights as mentioned in the 1962 IGC Report?”, with 50.6 per cent answering yes and 49.4 per cent no.
“The respondents’ level of knowledge about the 1962 IGC Report is quite balanced between those who are aware and those who are not.
“This indicates that this important historical document still receives little attention, even though it forms the foundation of Malaysia’s establishment and outlines Sarawak’s special role in education,” he stressed.
