Manyin (standing ninth right, first row) and his delegation in a photo call with teachers, staff and pupils of SK Long Sobeng.

 
 

LIMBANG: Sarawak will ask for more federal funding to rebuild schools in areas badly affected by the recent floods.

Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin said his ministry and the state Education Department are now compiling schools which need to be rebuilt or merged with other schools to become centralised schools.

He said for the time being, some of these schools will be rebuilt using the RM1 billion allocated to Sarawak under Budget 2018 by the federal government for this year and 2019 for rebuilding dilapidated schools.

Manyin, who visited four primary schools in upper Limbang and Baram affected by the floods, said he was sad to see the dilapidated condition of those schools which had been in operation since the early 1960s.

Due to the floods, he said the condition of these schools, as well as the other four dilapidated schools in Selangau and Tatau he visited on Wednesday, had worsened and the headmasters of these schools had proposed for the schools to be relocated.

“It has been identified that one of the factors which contributed to the poor academic performance is the condition of the schools. The other factor is the schools have low enrolment (SKMs). If we merge the SKMs into centralised school, the school will have better facilities with specialist teachers.

“This will improve the state’s academic performance. We will ask for funds from the federal government for this purpose,” he said.

Manyin and his delegation, which included Assistant Minister of Education and Technological Research Dr Annuar Rapaee and the ministry’s permanent secretary Datu Sudarsono Osman, visited SK Nanga Merit Limbang and SK Ulu Lubai in Limbang, and SK Long Sobeng and SK Long Jegan in Baram yesterday.

Also in the delegation were state Education Department development unit head Awang Bakhtiar Awang Seri and Major Ismail Mahedin from the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee secretariat.

Manyin also said he was sad to see Sarawak schools lagging behind their counterparts in the Peninsula including the opposition-held Kelantan.

He added Kelantan had always performed better than Sarawak in public examinations, seemingly due to better school conditions and facilities.

“Every time during our meeting in Putrajaya, none of the representatives from the other states talked about dilapidated schools because their schools are already in good conditions. Only I, representing Sarawak, talked about dilapidated schools because that’s the reality.

“As long as I am still there, I will continue mentioning about our schools,” he remarked.

He was happy to inform that a centralised school to merge SK Nanga Merit Limbang and SK Ulu Lubai has been approved and its construction is expected to start this year.

He said the new school will be on a 10-acre site and its estimated cost is RM23 million. SK Nanga Merit Limbang currently has 42 pupils while SK Ulu Lubai has only 22.

“This new school, when completed, will have better facilities such as a science lab and a computer room. We hope this will elevate the academic performance,” he said.

During the visits to the other schools, Manyin encouraged their headmasters to not just relocate but also to merge with other SKMs, which he hoped will receive consent from the parents.

Manyin announced allocations approved for these schools to do repairs and replace damaged classroom furniture and damaged hostel items due to the floods which happened in December last year until February this year.

SK Nanga Merit will receive RM387,831; SK Ulu Lubai RM555,500; SK Long Sabeng RM500,000 and SK Long Jegan RM500,000.

On Wednesday, Manyin had announced SK Nanga Selangau would receive RM365,000, SK Nanga Kua RM937,000, SK Muput Tatau RM755,908 and SK Nanga Tau RM600,000.

He explained the allocation came from both the state and federal governments, with the state through the Chief Minister approving funds to replace damaged classroom furniture and hostel items, while the funds from the federal are for repairs on school infrastructure.

He said the funds will come in before Gawai, though they are only a temporary solution before the next round of flood hits the schools.