Going the extra mile to raise funds
PUPILS of SK Orang Asli Sungai Berua in Hulu Terengganu study in cramped classrooms with two groups of pupils occupying a classroom with only a partition separating them.
Teachers have to use an open space at the canteen without any partition since there is no teachers’ room.
Instead of keeping quiet, teacher Oh Siong Lai, has walked the extra mile to secure a RM200,000 donation from a Kuala Lumpurbased company to build a block of four classrooms and two toilets.
Oh, 51, who teaches English and has been with the school for eight years, said the lack of classrooms in the school was conveyed to the Education Ministry which had agreed to consider the request under the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (2016-2020).
“The state education department and ministry officials understood our plight and were helpful.
“I discussed the matter with school headmaster Mohd Noor Zakaria before approaching T7 Global Bhd.
“They asked me to submit a working paper and later agreed to contribute RM200,000 to the school as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility programme,” he said.
He said the company presented the RM200,000 mock cheque to Terengganu education director Shafruddin Ali Hussin in the presence of Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid in Putrajaya on Sept 21 last year.
Hulu Terengganu district education officer Jalaludin Ismail performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the new block at the school which is about 7km from Tasik Kenyir on Monday.
Jalaludin said the block was expected to be completed in three months.
“Now, we have resolved two major issues at one go which is the cramped classroom and absence of teachers’ room,” he said.
The school has 88 pupils and 13 teachers. There are six classrooms now.
SK Orang Asli Sungai Berua is one of the two schools in Terengganu which caters for Orang Asli pupils. The other being SK Sungai Pergam in Kemaman.
T7 Global Bhd, formerly Tanjung Offshore Bhd, provides services to the oil and gas sector.