1. Education System in Sabah
• The Christian missionaries played a vital role in the
development of education system
• Before the North Borneo Smelting Company took
control, ethnic groups did not receive any formal
education
• E.g.: Malays were only given religious education
whereas other indigenous groups were given traditions
education of their descendant.

2. • Missionaries from the Roman Catholic
denomination began to set up schools in
towns like Papar (1881) and Sandakan,
namely:
• St. Mary’s primary School (1883)
• St. Michael’s Boys School (1888) and
• Convent School for girls (1891)
• English language was the medium of
instruction in most of the schools in Sabah,
followed by Mandarian and the Dusun
language

3. • Development of schools in Sabah
i. The 1st Government-aided school (primary
school) was established in Kota Belud in 1920
- Malay was used as the medium of instruction.
ii. There were 79 private schools in 1939
- Some of the private schools that situated in
Ladang Getah, Tawau used Japanese language as
the medium of instruction.

4. Education System in Sarawak
• Ibans, Kelabit and Melanau receieved
traditional education instead of formal
education.
• They were taught basic skills, such as
farming, hunting, handicraft, etc.
• Malay children were taught Islamic education
in religious schools.

5. Development of schools in Sarawak
• During the Brooke administration, the
education system in Sarawak was managed by
3 groups, namely :
• i. Christian missionaries
• Ii. The Brooke Government
• Iii. Chinese community

6. • In 1938, Roman Catholic missionaries set up schools
in Kuching and Kanowit
• The Anglican missionaries established schools in Sibu
and Kuching in 1938
• All these schools used the English language as the
medium of instruction.
• Brooke Government set up schools outside Kuching.
- Medium of instruction: Malay language, English
language and Mandarin.
- In 1924, the Brooke Government set up an Education
Department to administer the education system in
Sarawak.