Embrace digital leadership, S’wak school principals advised

BINTULU (July 17): Every school principal in Sarawak should embrace and practise digital leadership, in line with the current needs of and the constant changes in education, says Dato Sri Roland Sagah Wee Inn.

The Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Sarawak believes that today’s education needs a more modern and systematic management, as well as learning system.

“Indeed, the advancement of digital technology in this globalisation era brings a new landscape in leadership style.

“The visionary digital leadership culture refers to the approach and values in the management of organisations that interact with the capabilities in and the understanding of digital technology,” he said when officiating at the opening ceremony for ‘Education Management Conference’ conducted by Sarawak Secondary School Principals Association (SSSPA), here yesterday.

Adding on, Sagah said as the government strove to empower state’s education towards world-class level, the school principals should also strive to play a proactive role in upgrading their respective school administration systems so that they would not fall behind in terms of technology.

In addition, he said the revolution, digital learning and teaching patterns under ‘Education 5.0’ practised in schools would facilitate towards attaining excellent academic achievements.

“This is because a more proactive and interactive digital learning pattern is able to grab the attention of every student, in addition to being a more effective and easy-to-understand delivery method.”

Elaborating on digital leadership, Sagah said in today’s global era, all parties in the education sector must strive to learn new knowledge so as to facilitate better management of schools, including in areas of teaching and learning.

“The best example is for teachers to utilise AI (artificial intelligence), IoT (Internet of Things) and Big Data technology to increase effectiveness in the teaching-and-learning process.

“Therefore, training in the digital field for teachers should be applied, in enabling them to use new technologies in teaching at school,” he said.

Later at the event, Sagah presented RM174,800 to SSSPA, which also included RM12,000 from Arsea Borneo and RM8,000 from Yayasan Bank Rakyat.

Accompanying him were deputy minister Datuk Francis Harden Hollis and SSSPA chairman Ujai Sambau.