KUCHING – Sarawak continues to grapple with a shortfall in teachers specialising in the Iban language, even though two institutions currently offer the course of study.
During the Jaku Tangkai Mengandai keynote lecture at the Borneo Cultural Museum, Dato Sri John Sikie Tayai, Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department, acknowledged that Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) and the Rajang Campus Institute of Teacher Education are currently the only institutions offering Iban as a major.
He announced that Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) is poised to introduce a degree programme in Iban language beginning 2025/2026, a move intended to help address the teacher deficit.
“The shift from learning Iban through daily conversation to structured university-level study reflects its importance to younger generations, so it is not lost amid modernisation,” he said.
He added that expanded access to Iban studies would enable younger scholars, including non-Iban youths, to learn and communicate in the language.
Several dignitaries attended the event, including Datuk Patinggi Alfred Jabu Numpang, Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, Datuk Jefferson Jamit Unyat, Prof Dr Suriani Abu Bakar, Assoc Prof Dr Mazura @ Mastura Muhammad, and Nancy Jolhi.
Data from UNIMAS indicate that the new Bachelor of Education in Iban Language will be offered under the Faculty of Education, Language and Communication.
The faculty also plans to establish a Borneo Languages Department covering Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau and Sarawak Malay dialects.
In previous reports, it was revealed that among 2,836 primary school Iban language teachers, only 385 have selected Iban as their specialisation. In secondary schools, only 63 out of 282 teachers took Iban as a major.
As the state moves to broaden academic pathways for Iban language, observers see UNIMAS’s planned programme as a key step toward strengthening both teacher supply and the preservation of Sarawak’s indigenous linguistic heritage.
