KOTA KINABALU: The State Education Department has done all suggestions made by Gerakan Youth chief Cleyrance Lee Chen Peng who claimed that the department had failed to upgrade and repair damaged schools in Sabah.
Its director Datuk Jame Alip in a press conference yesterday said he was inviting Lee to his office and show the progress in upgrading and repairing schools that had been approved by the Ministry of Education.
“I was shocked after reading Lee’s statement in the newspapers because he had never asked me or my officers about the status of the upgrading and repairing works.
“Leaders from the government and even from the opposition normally call or write to me about any issues before making any statements or suggestions, but Lee was simply saying without knowing the facts,” he said.
However, Jame said he respected Lee’s statement as a young leader but advised him to think before making any statements, otherwise his statement would be seen as cheap publicity to gain political mileage.
He added that all officers from the department were frustrated with Lee’s statement.
“Officers from our department have been working almost 24/7 because we know the need to improve the quality of education in the state. We need all leaders to support us in this issue, and begging not to accuse us with lies and hurtful statements.
“Lee in his statement said our department was facing a shortage of experts in doing the upgrading and repair works of schools that were hit by natural disasters or fire. In fact, we don’t have any experts doing the works; we depend on the Public Works Department (JKR).
“Lee’s suggestion to borrow experts from other government department is a brilliant idea but unfortunately it is being done since a long time ago and we are still facing the same problem because JKR needs experts for their projects while other departments also need experts.
“We have been requesting for experts to be posted to our department and are still waiting for them to come. And for information, positions in the government are not under my jurisdiction. He should learn how the system works before saying anything because education is not a joke in our state,” he stressed.
During the press statement yesterday, Jame explained that the department was waiting for the arrival of 10 technical officers from Pasukan Projek Sabah under JKR Malaysia to report for duty to implement project plans and tenders under RM5 million.
He also said three schools in Sabah needed immediate action, namely Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Pekan Kiulu; SK Gadong, Beaufort; and SK Bawang, Tamparuli.