Ten students from SMK Chung Hua (CF) Miri have earned the opportunity to represent Malaysia in Houston after Team REFINITY won the overall title at FIRST LEGO League Malaysia 2026. The next destination is the FIRST LEGO League World Festival, part of the FIRST Championship 2027, scheduled for April 28 to May 1 in Houston, Texas. The result is a national championship and a place on the international stage, not a world title already won. DayakDaily reported that the Malaysian competition was held on Oct 25 at Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology in Kuala Lumpur. Organised by Sasbadi Holdings Berhad, its 17th edition brought together 920 young participants, including a team from Hong Kong. This year’s UNEARTHED theme asked teams to tackle archaeology-related challenges through science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Work involved robot design and programming alongside scientific investigation and creative problem-solving. For Sarawak’s school robotics community, REFINITY’s result also illustrates the breadth of the contest: communication, collaboration and critical thinking were assessed alongside technical performance. The Miri team was supported by a local coach and accompanying schoolteachers. With the Malaysian title secured, preparation now turns to the 2027 World Festival. The national win establishes the opportunity to compete; it does not determine the outcome in Houston.

Fifteen mission schools in the Tarat constituency have received RM1.7 million under the Sarawak Mission Schools Fund 2026, with spending restricted to the purposes approved for each school. The assistance is intended to improve educational facilities and meet learning needs. Cheques were presented at the Tarat Service Centre in Tapah on Saturday, according to The Borneo Post’s Oct 25 report, which cited the Sarawak Public Communication Unit. Eight recipient schools fall under the Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching and seven under the Anglican Diocese of Kuching. These are the schools’ administering dioceses; the recipients identified in this funding round are in Tarat, not a list of schools in Kuching city. The state education minister described the assistance as part of this year’s first phase, channelled through the Unit for Other Religions, or Unifor. He called on headmasters and school board chairpersons to manage the money transparently and ensure it directly benefits pupils. For school communities, the cheque presentation marks funding reaching the recipient schools. It does not establish that repairs or new facilities have already been completed. The report did not give an individual school allocation breakdown or a works timetable.

Nearly half of school-going children in Sarawak’s first Child Wellbeing Index study lacked adequate access to learning devices, even as 95.5 per cent of the children surveyed said they enjoyed learning. The preliminary findings put access and actual skills alongside school participation. More than one in three children fell below the study’s benchmark for mathematical proficiency, while one in four did not meet its literacy benchmark. These are findings about the children surveyed, not a count of every child in Sarawak. Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister Fatimah Abdullah presented the findings at a press conference in Kuching on Oct 22. UNICEF’s survey involved 3,124 children and examined seven dimensions of wellbeing, covering matters such as economic circumstances, education, family relationships and access to information technology. The device gap was particularly apparent among older adolescents and children in Sri Aman and Serian, Suara Sarawak reported. That gives education planners a more specific challenge than simply getting children into classrooms: whether they have the tools and foundational skills to use learning opportunities. Fatimah said the findings would help agencies identify needs by area and plan more targeted interventions. The results remain preliminary; the briefing was about planning policy and programmes, not the launch of an individual device-grant application scheme.

Kuching’s Chung Hua Middle School No. 4 is earmarked to move from Jalan Haji Taha in Satok to a new campus in the Stampin Resettlement Scheme. The latest update concerns land and relocation support, not an immediate transfer of classes. Deputy Premier Dr Sim Kui Hian said the state had reserved a parcel of land for the school and was providing compensation and grants to help with the move, The Borneo Post reported on Oct 22. No relocation date, campus completion target or amount for that support was set out. Sim spoke at a flood-mitigation project groundbreaking in the resettlement scheme. That ceremony should not be confused with the start of construction on the school’s future campus. The school has separately told families that the new site remains a planning project and that teaching will continue at the existing campus in the meantime, according to See Hua Daily News. It said a move would be arranged only when the new site has complete teaching and administrative facilities. For parents considering enrolment, the important distinction is between a site reserved for future expansion and the campus where classes are being held now. The land-and-support announcement does not itself change the school’s present address.

Fifty-four of the 140 dilapidated-school projects funded through Sarawak’s RM1 billion advance-payment allocation remain at different stages of implementation, Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Roland Sagah Wee Inn said on October 19. He told the Sarawak Legislative Assembly that 86 projects in that programme had been completed. In a separate group under Projek Rakyat Sarawak, six of 12 identified school projects were complete; the other six were either being implemented or still at the pre-construction stage. Sagah also welcomed the federal Budget 2027 allocation of RM1.3 billion for upgrading 682 dilapidated schools nationwide, with Sabah and Sarawak prioritised. That is a national allocation, not an amount already assigned wholly to Sarawak or to the 54 unfinished projects. He expressed hope that Sarawak would receive a substantial share. The October 19 report did not set out school-by-school completion dates or a final Sarawak share of that federal allocation.

The Education Ministry has given schools more time to enter assessment marks in MOEIS after haze disrupted classes and assessment activities in parts of the country. The new deadline for the End-of-Academic-Session Assessment (UASA) and End-of-Academic-Session Examinations (PAT/PASA) is November 28, replacing November 21. For the Physical, Sports and Co-curricular Assessment (PAJSK), the deadline moves from November 30 to December 5. The ministry announced the changes in an October 19 statement. They concern recording marks in the Integrated Education Management System, rather than a single new examination date for every school. The statement does not set out a replacement assessment timetable for individual schools. Parents and pupils should therefore use their school’s own assessment notices for sitting dates, not read the later marks-entry deadline as an automatic postponement of a test.

Sarawak’s Free Tertiary Education Scheme (FTES) does not bind graduates to jobs in the state, Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Roland Sagah Wee Inn said on October 19. Speaking to reporters after his ministerial winding-up speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly complex, he said recipients could pursue careers anywhere. The state hopes graduates will bring overseas experience home, but that hope is not an employment bond. For families weighing an FTES offer, the distinction matters: accepting the education support does not, under the policy he described, require a graduate to take a Sarawak job. It is not a promise of employment, at home or abroad. Sagah also told the assembly that 6,246 students had accepted FTES offers across four Sarawak-owned institutions as of September 30. They comprise 2,802 at Swinburne Sarawak, 2,031 at University of Technology Sarawak, 949 at Curtin Malaysia and 464 at i-CATS University College. Of the students who accepted offers, 3,195 qualify for the annual RM15,000 living and accommodation stipend for eligible lower-income households. That support is not an automatic payment to all 6,246 students. A separate intake figure tracks the 64 courses covered by the scheme: 3,491 new students in 2026, compared with 1,528 in 2025, an increase of 128.5 per cent. The course-intake total and the number accepting FTES offers measure different groups and should not be treated as interchangeable.

Sarawak is taking over the upgrading projects at SMK Gedong and SK Sageng, Premier Abang Johari Tun Openg said on October 18. Speaking at the Satu Pemimpin, Satu Kampung programme in Gedong, he said the state would step in so pupils could continue to receive quality education and access to up-to-date knowledge, regardless of the funding source. The two projects sit within a wider school-upgrading commitment. In the Sarawak Budget 2027 tabled on October 12, an additional RM29 million was announced for urgent redevelopment or upgrading at SMK Gedong, SK Sageng, SJKC Tong Ah and SK Tupong. That figure covers four schools; it is not an allocation stated separately for each of the two takeover projects. For the affected school communities, the latest announcement identifies the state government’s role in carrying the work forward. It does not announce completed buildings or a date when pupils will move into upgraded facilities. Project-by-project costs and completion dates were not set out in the October 18 report.

Sarawak's UP-DLPS 6 assessment begins on October 14, with all marking moving online for the first time this year. Government primary-school pupils in Primary 6 will sit the English, Science and Mathematics assessment on October 14 and 15. The education ministry's statement, reported by DayakDaily on October 13, puts the expected results date at November 23. The change is to how answers are marked, not an announcement that pupils will take the assessment remotely. Families have two dates to keep separate: this week's assessment and the later release of results. The ministry says online marking should improve efficiency and transparency and allow more detailed analysis of pupils' strengths and areas for improvement. Those are the aims of the new system; its performance will become clearer when the first set of results is available.

A school-cleaning task became the basis of SMK Long Bedian's winning national STEM project: a camera identifies waste, then opens the bin for the appropriate category. The Baram school took first place at the Petrosains Tech4All 2026 National Level Competition in Kuala Lumpur on October 12, DayakDaily reported from the organiser's release. The competition was held at Petrosains, The Discovery Centre—not at the school in Sarawak. Called S.O.R.T., the project combines Arduino coding, a camera and AI tools including Teachable Machine to distinguish cans, plastic and paper. Its stated purpose is to make sorting easier for the school's cleaner while helping students practise waste separation. That is a practical school prototype, not evidence that an automated recycling system has been rolled out across Baram. The report gives no tested accuracy rate or wider deployment plan, so the award should not be read as a claim that the system can identify every type of rubbish. The national competition brought together 40 students and 20 teachers from ten schools across six states. For Sarawak's STEM learning, the distinctive result is the use of coding and image recognition on a familiar local task, rather than technology presented only as a classroom exercise.

Eligible Sarawak students studying in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah or Labuan will continue to have i-GPS support for trips home in 2027, with claims capped at RM300 per trip and two trips a year. The state budget tabled on October 12 sets aside RM8 million for Graduan Pulang Sarawak, according to DayakDaily. The cap matters for family travel planning: it is a subsidy towards an eligible trip, not a promise to pay the entire ticket price or cover unlimited journeys. A separate RM50 million allocation continues the RM1,200 Special Pocket Money assistance for Sarawakian students in diploma and degree programmes at recognised higher-learning institutions across Malaysia. Its purpose is daily essentials such as food, rather than flight costs. The two programmes serve different needs and should not be treated as one combined payment. The report announces their continuation and funding for next year but does not provide the 2027 claim window, payment dates or full application requirements. A budget announcement is therefore not, by itself, notice that applications have opened. Scholarships and study loans also receive separate funding: RM18.5 million under the state government's named scholarship schemes, with a further RM206 million to be provided by Yayasan Sarawak.

Parents arranging school journeys now have specific notification deadlines to watch: 2.45pm on the relevant weekend day, and before 5.45pm on other days. The Education Ministry said in its October 10 statement that State Education Directors will decide daily whether schools operate normally or use home-based teaching and learning, known as BDR-PdPR. The decision follows air-pollution monitoring by task forces involving State Education Departments and District Education Offices. Weekend notices are to be issued by 2.45pm on Saturdays for Group A schools and Sundays for Group B schools. On other days, the deadline is before 5.45pm, using Air Pollutant Index readings released by the Department of Environment. The earlier weekend notice is intended to help families organise travel to boarding schools or journeys home. For Kuching and other Sarawak families, the notice from the State Education Department, District Education Office or their own school is the information to act on. This ministry-wide arrangement is not itself an announcement that a particular Sarawak school is closed or that all schools are switching to home-based learning.

Kota Samarahan's new SMK Sri Samarahan is expected to open in October, adding secondary-school capacity in the growing district. Preparations were inspected on Oct 2 by the deputy rural and regional development minister, who is also the Kota Samarahan MP. The opening is intended to improve students' access to a more suitable learning environment. Earlier project plans place the school near Kampung Meranek and Kampung Empila, with capacity for about 1,500 students. Its stated purpose is to ease overcrowding at SMK Muara Tuang and SMK Kota Samarahan; that planned capacity should not be mistaken for the size of the first intake. The October opening announcement does not specify an exact first school day or enrolment arrangements. Families considering the new school should confirm intake and transfer instructions with the school rather than assume the announcement itself is an instruction to switch schools.

Forty-one secondary schools in northern Sarawak have signed a partnership with Curtin University Malaysia aimed at widening students’ access to STEM learning and university pathways. The agreement links the schools with the Miri campus for STEM programmes and teacher development, giving pupils earlier exposure to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as higher-education and career options. The university also offers annual Excellence Awards to up to five eligible high-performing SPM graduates from each participating school, subject to its current terms. The memorandum was signed at a teachers’ conference in Miri on Sept 29. The reported opportunities are part of the partnership; the university has not announced a single fixed award amount in the coverage.

Sarawak is developing a state-level framework for early childhood care and education, while 2,949 kindergartens and childcare centres currently serve 72,136 children. The proposed framework is intended to align standards across access, quality, inclusion, child development and educator professionalism. It is also expected to cover family involvement, safe learning environments, early detection and intervention, and children's transition to formal schooling. As of Aug 31, Sarawak had 2,719 kindergartens and 230 childcare centres, supported by 5,796 teachers and educators. The framework is still being developed; the reports did not give an implementation date or explain how the standards will be assessed. Parents and providers can watch for those details before treating the proposal as a new operating requirement.

Four infrastructure projects are being pursued in Puncak Borneo, with a Phase 2 water-supply scheme intended to reach 18 villages. The package includes the Puncak Borneo Phase 2 water project, the RM45 million expansion of the Bengoh Resettlement Scheme, the Biya–Jabir Road project and the RM85 million SMK Puncak Borneo. Their statuses are not the same: the water scheme has faced pipeline-route objections and redesign work; the road project has recently gone out to tender; and the school has approval, funding and an identified site but is still awaiting implementation. A separate RM12.6 million acute water system in Kampung Bengoh is planned for expansion to Kampung Petag, Kampung Sitang and Kampung Bangau. The Phase 2 scheme is also planned to use Kampung Sapit as a distribution centre for Kampung Assum, Kampung Parang and surrounding areas. For Padawan residents, the immediate question is not just the size of the package but when each project moves from approval or tender into visible work.

The RM9.89 million replacement project for SK Kampung Selanyau in Subis remains a sick project after missing its original completion date. The school site was handed over in May 2021 and was scheduled for completion in July 2022. Sarawak Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn said during a recent visit that the project is receiving attention and that all parties must complete their responsibilities. The replacement covers classrooms, an administration building, laboratories, teachers’ quarters and other facilities. The latest report does not announce a new completion date, so the project should not be described as near completion. For the school community, the key update is that the delayed project remains under attention while the promised facilities and equipment still await completion and handover.

A total of 647 schools in Sarawak will close for five days from Sept 7 to 11 as haze conditions worsen, with lessons moving online. The temporary closure covers 563 primary schools with 108,477 pupils and 84 secondary schools with 90,082 students. The affected education districts include Kuching, Padawan, Bau, Lundu, Samarahan, Simunjan, Serian, Sri Aman, Lubok Antu, Kanowit, Julau and Meradong. Home-based teaching and learning will continue during the closure. Schools have been told to follow education and health procedures, monitor local API readings through APIMS and observe guidance on outdoor activities. For families in Kuching and nearby districts, Monday’s arrangement is now clear for the listed schools: children should remain at home and follow instructions from their schools for online lessons. Any later change will come through the Sarawak Education Department.

The engineering question raised in Kuching reaches beyond one gadget: how can exams stay credible when AI can generate or display answers? For Sarawak's universities, schools and engineering students, that is the practical issue behind Thursday's fireside chat. Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Tun Openg said future engineers may need to develop technology capable of spotting AI-generated answers. He was referring to a report he had read about AI-enabled glasses that could provide answers, not to a proven incident in a Sarawak exam. The exchange took place during the 34th FEIAP General Assembly and World Engineering Congress at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching. Hosted by the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, the regional gathering runs from Sept 2 to 4. The session announced no new Sarawak examination rule, detector purchase, trial, budget or implementation date; any classroom or examination change would require a separate decision from the relevant education authorities.

Kenyalangsat-1 is still a research proposal: UiTM Sarawak has not announced a budget, mission, technical design or launch date. The nano-satellite was one item in a wider research package the Sarawak branch presented to the state government this week. The same package covers rare-earth and thorium recovery from Sarawak monazite, nipah-palm carbon credits, nano-based drinking-water filtration, rice farming in Mukah and microalgae biofuel. UiTM does have prior nano-satellite experience. Its official records describe UiTMSAT-1 and the later UiTMSAT-2 programme led by the university’s electrical engineering faculty. The latest announcement, however, does not say whether Kenyalangsat-1 will use that team, technology or existing partners. UiTM Sarawak has campuses in Samarahan and Mukah, but the announcement did not describe student roles or work assigned to either campus. Kenyalangsat-1 therefore remains an idea presented for consideration, not a satellite already under development.