KOTA BELUD: Former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak is of the view that the time has come for the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to extend a helping hand to address the problem of Sabah schoolchildren who fail to learn to read and write.
He said the move was vital as Sabah is among the states with the highest number of pupils who have problems with literacy and numeracy, known as 3M (membaca, menulis dan mengira or reading, writing and arithmetic).
He said based on data released by the Education Ministry two years ago, 12,000 pupils from 180 schools in the state face problems in literacy and numeracy.
A PTA is an organisation with a mission to make the school a better place for children to learn.
“This is where PTA plays an important role in helping monitor and assess pupils’ level of understanding of the subjects taught.
“In this regard, I suggest that every PTA committee member be appointed as a mentor for each level, especially at the primary school,” he said.
Salleh, who is Usukan State Assemblyman, said this in his speech when opening the 20th PTA annual general meeting of SK Suang Punggor here today.
He said the mentor-mentee concept between parents, teachers and the PTA committee appointed as monitors was important to ensure the effectiveness of the learning process, including the home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) method.
“I call on all parents to always support and give full cooperation to the school.
“On the newly appointed committee (in this school), you are the trustee to ensure good relations and the success of the children,” he said.
