By Asmahanim Amir
Pictures by Shahiddan Saidi

BANGI, 24 Nov 2017 –Government’s initiative in upgrading the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) is a good step in order to increase studies on national socio-economic education.

Director of KITA, Prof Ulung Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin said family is the core element of social integrity.

“Family units make up the core of our country. I believe all social problems can be attributed to one’s family background,” he said.

He said the Government made the right step by planning to establish a Socio-Economic Research Institute (SERI) under the Prime Minister’s Department (PMD).

“SERI will review and assess the effectiveness of policies, the implementation of development programmes and projects.

“KITA, menwhile will coordinate a study of national socio-economic education and establish a national social development index.

“We need to know what is exactly the situation like in Malaysia and collaborate with the Government in order to address social problems more effectively,” he explained adding that it is important to identify the different types of family in our community.

The announcement on the upgrade of KITA as a national institution was made when the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak tabled the national budget, recently.