He said the meeting was jointly chaired by the education ministry’s secretary-general and the permanent secretary of Sabah’s science, technology and innovation ministry.

“For education issues in Sabah, the demands received by the education ministry mainly concern the educational infrastructure, management, curriculum, and education policies.

“These demands will then be forwarded for review and consideration by the joint action committee on education development in Sabah, which will be co-chaired by the education minister (Fadhlina Sidek) and the state minister for science, technology and innovation (Dr Mohd Arifin Arif) soon,” he said in a written reply published on the Parliament website today.

Fadillah was replying to Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warisan-Kota Belud) who wanted to know the reason why Sarawak can finalise the devolution of autonomous powers in education under the technical committee of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) but Sabah has yet to do so. She also wanted the deputy prime minister to state in detail the demands put forward.

Fadillah, who is also the energy transition and water transformation minister, said the demands related to education in Sabah and Sarawak are among the key issues discussed during the MA63 implementation action council meetings chaired by the prime minister, and the technical committee meetings, which he chairs.

For education issues in Sarawak, he said the majority of demands have been agreed upon by both parties and for several other matters that still require further discussion, they will continue to be addressed in meetings at the education ministry level.

“The Sabah and Sarawak affairs division of the Prime Minister’s Department will continue to monitor those issues with all stakeholders at the federal and state levels,” he added.