A Yayasan Sarawak International Secondary School will be built in the new township of Jepak.
Announcing this, Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee congratulated the people in Jepak.
“I would like to congratulate Jepak because the school will be built at the Jepak new township,” he said during the question-and-answer session at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today (May 20).
Earlier, Iskandar Turkee (GPS-Jepak) questioned whether the constituency was being considered for such a project.
Iskandar also raised a supplementary question regarding the performance of students from Yayasan Sarawak International Secondary School in international assessments such as the Cambridge Checkpoint examination.
Dr Annuar explained the syllabus for the international school under Yayasan Sarawak covers Year 7 to Year 11, and students will sit for the Cambridge Checkpoint test in Year 9.
“The Checkpoint exam is important, because it allows for peer-to-peer comparison, not just locally but internationally.
“The examination covers three core subjects namely Mathematics, Science and English. It is accessed according to the topics of the subject, and not only the subject but based on each individual topic within that subject,” he said.
He added among the first cohort of our students who sat for the test last year, many scored above the international average.
“In other words, they are better off than many of our international students who sat for this examination.
“This shows that we are on the right track in terms of the education we are providing to our students in Sarawak,” he said.
Addressing concerns over sustainability and quality of the school to be built in Bintulu, Dr Annuar assured that the Sarawak government is fully committed.
“This syllabus follows the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) framework under Cambridge.
“In other words, any changes in the national education policy will not affect the international students in these schools,” he said.
Thus, he said this ensures a high level of educational sustainability and quality.
“I can assure you that the structure and content of the IGCSE syllabus provide both stability and academic excellence,” he added.
On a related note, he said the University of Cambridge is periodically invited to assess the standards of students in the international school.
“Therefore, it is a very comprehensive form of syllabus which will make sure that it will not be affected by any changes of national policy as long as it is based on IGCSE,” said Dr Annuar.
