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.