Six Sarawak schools get upgrade using IBS

THE industrialised building system (IBS) has been used to fix six of the 43 dilapidated schools in Sarawak that are in need of upgrading, said education director-general Tan Sri Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof.

Thirteen of the schools are currently under reconstruction, eight at the design stage, while 16 are at the planning stage.

He said the ministry always took note of the calls made by Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem for dilapidated schools in the state to be rebuilt.

“We have identified 183 schools in the state which can be rebuilt using IBS, which saves time and costs, as well as being safer.

“These schools will be upgraded in stages, but the list is not permanent as we are always on the lookout for more schools that need upgrading," he said during his visit to SK Kelawit and SK Tatau, about 70km from here, last Sunday.

Besides upgrading school buildings, Dr Khair said the ministry planned to connect electricity supply to 50 schools located within a one-km radius from the power grid by 2017, and another 58 schools in 2018.

“As for water supply connection, we have identified 51 schools for water to be supplied by the Sarawak Rural Water Supply Department from next year,” he added.

With regard to improving the facilities at Sarawak schools, he said the ministry was working together with the chief minister in aspiring to ensure that schools which are in poor condition also receive the same facilities enjoyed by those in urban areas and other states.

Dr Khair also said that in future, the construction of schools will take into consideration the availability of basic infrastructure around the school sites agreed upon in order to avoid the problems seen currently.

“SK Kelawit was built as a design-and-build project that involved just the school construction, and the lack of water supply at the school now is because of the absence of basic facilities in the surrounding area.

“In future, even if the school project sites have been identified, screening must be done to ensure the availability of basic facilities in the vicinity before the sites are agreed upon,” he said.