SMK Singai starts school session today
KUCHING: The dream of having another secondary school to cater to the ever-growing number of students in Bau has come true with SMK Sigai opening for the new school session today.
Form 1 and 2 students, accompanied by parents and siblings, came to the school for registration and moved into the dormitories, turning the usually quiet school grounds on a Sunday into a festival-like atmosphere. The current batch has over 300 students.
Tasik Biru assemblyman Dato Henry Harry Jinep thanked his predecessor Datuk Peter Nansian Ngusie for initiating and making this project a reality for the Singai community to ease overcrowding in schools in Bau.
“Bau has three secondary schools and SMK Singai is the fourth. The previous number of schools is insufficient as the schools are in two schooling sessions. The new school is in a single schooling session and students are slowly moving into the school,” he said during a visit to the school yesterday.
“This was done previously by Nansian, has been planned for 1015 years, and taken over by him. The project has been delayed so the Singai community thank him and also the government. It has been a long process to bring the project into reality.”
He also thanked the Sarawak Education Department director for letting the school open earlier, which was scheduled to start next year.
“Currently, only the Form 1 and 2 students have moved into the school, and the school will be full by next year,” he said.
The school’s full capacity is 800
Bau has three secondary schools and SMK Singai is the fourth. The previous number of schools is insufficient as the schools are in two schooling sessions. The new school is in a single schooling session and students are slowly moving into the school.
students.
He said the school costs RM46 million to build and construction commenced in 2012, but due to technical issues by the first contractor, the project had to be retendered to another contractor who completed it ahead of schedule.
He also stressed that the visit with Nansian was “as people coming from the community, on their own accord”, and not by any invitation. They were accompanied by Bau education officer Dr Les Met.
Though the school starts operating today, the school canteen is not in operation yet (so day students need to bring their own food for break time), the science labs are not fully equipped yet (thus the students have to study theory first) and it does not have a principal yet, all which will be resolved soon, said Henry.
Meanwhile, Nansian hopes that many people will turn up for the Carnival Gawai Redeems 2018 this Saturday.
Among the attractions in the itinerary are cultural performances, traditional rituals, sales of food and handicrafts, and the highlight is the gala dinner.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg is expected to grace the event.
At the same time, he hopes to request from the government the setting-up of a childcare and learning centre at the Redeems Centre and the Community-based Rehabilitation ( PDK) Singai to be moved there.
He said the idea behind the childcare centre is to enable young mothers to go to work and leave their children at the centre with peace of mind, knowing that the children will be taken care of professionally and they can embark on their education at the pre-school there.
The relocation of PDK Singai, on the other hand, is to give it a permanent home as it is currently renting a house to operate in, and the homeowner wants the house back.
“With both centres built at Redeems, they can share the facilities with us. We have sporting facilities where eight types of games can be played at one time,” he said.
“We are waiting for the funding for both centres, and we can do it on our own land. We still have space at Redeems totalling 17 acres.”
Speaking on the upcoming project, the Bidayuh Cultural Centre, he said the earth works had been done and would commence soon, as the funding of RM10 million had already been obtained.
It will be built on a three- acre land and will have a longhouse, tanju, baruk stage and a VIP box to showcase the Bidayuh culture, he said.
Dato Henry Harry Jinep, Tasik Biru assemblyman