COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES PRAISE MALAYSIA'S COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has won praises from
Commonwealth countries for its commitment to educational development, which has
made it ahead in the field than some of these countries.

The compliments came through the delegates attending the 17th Conference of
the Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) which ended here Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the delegates also
commended Malaysia for actively contributing to the success of several
activities organised by Commonwealth countries, besides helping the smaller and
developing countries.

For instance, he said, the government had contributed 500,000 pounds
sterling to the Commonwealth Scholarship Fund to assist students from poor
countries.

"There had been voices at this conference for governments not to cut the
education budget during the current global economic crisis. But I told them that
in Malaysia, we did not reduce the education budget, in fact we increased it.

"This shows the government's strong commitment to educational development.
So, we will continue to assist and I will be having bilateral discussions with
several countries which had agreed to work with us in the field of education,"
he told reporters.

Muhyiddin said Malaysia regarded the Commonwealth as an important grouping
not just in the education sphere but in other spheres as well, whereby the
Commonwealth heads of government discussed various issues together.

He said during the five-day 17th CCEM, the education ministers and delegates
were impressed with the wide use of information communication technology (ICT)
in the teaching and learning process in Malaysian schools, and wanted to learn
from Malaysia on this aspect.

Muhyiddin also disclosed the joint communique of the 17th CCEM, called the
"Kuala Lumpur Communique" which, among the areas, touched on enhancing early
education for children, skills development at the tertiary level, quality and
professionalism of teachers, and incorporating best practices in education
administration.

Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat
Ransford Smith, who was at the press conference, said he was satisfied
with the organising of the conference, the deliberations and the hospitality of
the host country.

"It was a successful conference, and I hope there will be more engagement
among the Commonwealth countries after this," he said.

-- BERNAMA