Hostel to help children get proper education
FOR children in Pulau Balambangan, getting to school is no simple matter.
Most of them travelled for more than an hour by small boat with more than 20 students on it, while some of them walked for two hours -C this is the struggle for them getting an education.
Although their interest in learning is high, but it is slowly fading away due to this obvious reason.
Shamel Ben, a 12-year-old from Kampung Batu Sirih, said he only attended school two or three days a week because there were times when his parents did not have money to pay the boatman RM2 per trip to Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Balambangan Banggi in Kudat.
There are three villages in the island namely Kampung Batu Sirih, Kok Simpul and Kampung Selamat.
The school is located at Kampung Selamat.
Kampung Batu Sirih to Kampung Selamat is only accessible by boat, while Kok Simpul to Kampung Selamat is accessible by an hour boat ride or two hours walking through the jungle.
“My father is a fisherman, while my mother is a housewife. I love going to school but there are so many obstacles for me to attend school. Firstly, we need to pay RM2 for a boat ride to the school. My parents cannot afford RM2 per day.
“The second reason is when the boat is out of diesel, or when the boat breaks down,” he added.
Shamel, who is the fifth out of eight siblings, said he is hoping his UPSR (Primary School Achievement Test) result will allow him to go to the secondary school because there is a hostel for him to stay.
“If my result is good, I can go to Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Banggi and stay at the hostel. I am not going to miss classes anymore.
“I want to be a policeman, but I’m not sure if I can get into the force because I am not good at school. Since I only go to school about two or three days a week, I am not confident to have good result.
“If I cannot be a policeman, I want to work at the city like my sister. I have been to Kota Kinabalu city where my sister work as a salesgirl, selling clothes. Life in the city is much better compared to the island. I want to live in the city,” he added.
Another pupil from Kampung Baru Sirih, Hayatun Syamilah Joseph who is in Year Four said she is aware that education is the only way to get her family out from poverty.
Doing good in school means good job awaits. Good job means good income. That is one of reasons why she always forces herself to wake up early in the morning and go to school.
“I go to school only four days a week because there is no boat every Friday. My father already provides me RM8 every week for the boat fare from Monday to Thursday.
“I am hoping there will be a hostel for us to stay near the school so that I don’t have to be absent again. I enjoy school very much. I love Bahasa Malaysia subject but I also want to learn English, a subject that I am always weak,” she said.
The school’s senior assistant, Abdul Basith Iman Goy who has been attached to the island school for almost a decade, said SK Balambangan was built in the 1980s.
It was the third building built on the island after the first one in Kampung Batu Sirih was destroyed by strong wind and the second building burnt down.
“For the past nine years teaching in this school, UPSR result was never 100 per cent passed. Only in 2015 the results improved because the district education office spent around RM7,000 allocation for the UPSR students to stay at the classroom so that the teachers could give them extra class at night.
“After that, no more allocation from the district education office and the teachers have to collect money to ensure the UPSR students can stay in the school starting from day one of second semester until UPSR. We can see improvement, so I think if the students are able to go to school every day, they can produce good results,” he said.
Basith, who has been working closely with the school’s ParentTeacher Association (PTA) chairman, said something must be done to help the students, especially in providing hostel for those from the other villages. Azmi Kaba, the school’s P T A chairman, said a proposal to build a wooden hostel was made during last year’s meeting but there was no response from the parents.
“I made the proposal because hostel is the only way to make sure these children are getting proper education. But since the parents are reluctant to spend their time and energy to build hostel for their children, it can’t be done.
“I am hoping the recent trip made by Petronas to this school, saying that they will build hostels for the children will be a reality for the sake of our younger generation,” he added.
Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) will be building a hostel in the school as one of the company’s corporate social responsibility projects to boost the quality of the pupils’ education on the island.
The project is called Asrama Harian Luar Bandar.
The two hostel blocks for male and female pupils would be built on a two-hectare site complete with dining hall, surau and toilet.
Work on the hostel is expected to start in March, next year and scheduled to be completed in August the following year.
Petronas Group Human Resources Management senior vice president Dato’ Raiha Azni Abd Rahman in a statement said the company had started investing in human capital development since its first implementation year.
“We believe that education is able to empower individuals to improve their lives and make meaningful contributions to the nation’s development and prosperity.
“On this awareness, Petronas has developed a holistic approach to its corporate social investment in education. We work with various parties at the primary, secondary and higher institution levels with the aim of forming a versatile individual by providing access to education, and promoting the love of knowledge,” she said.
Raiha explained that hostel built for SK Balambangan Banggi is designed in such a manner to provide the pupils with a conducive educational surrounding.
“I hope the pupils will be prompted to study hard in their studies when the facility is completed,” she added.
The Borneo Post and other media organizations were brought by Petronas to the school for a short visit recently.
Pulau Balambangan is an island in northern Kudat, one of the islands closest to the Philippines.
Meanwhile, SK Balambangan headmaster Jeli Asangin said the school was very thankful to Petronas for the facility to help boost the level of education of the pupils at the school to be on par with their urban counterparts.