Bright future for street kids

Special school being built for needy children in Chow Kit

KUALA LUMPUR: Street children from poor families and those without identification documents living around the Chow Kit area will enjoy a good education courtesy of a school created specially for them here.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who announced the setting up of Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih (SBJK), said the sevenstorey building would be ready by November next year, while the hostel block would be completed by 2020.

“Chow Kit will be where good education can be made available to these children.

“Who could have imagined that Chow Kit could be transformed into an area that has the potential to improve the future of such children here?” he said during a working visit to the construction site of SBJK’s academic building and hostel at Lorong Haji Hussein 2, off Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz here yesterday.

Najib, who announced a RM30mil allocation for the school’s construction last year, said the school was part of the Government’s emphasis on providing education opportunities for children regardless of their socio-economic background.

In his speech, he said that from 2009, 67% of children went to preschool and this increased to 85.6% in 2016.

“We believe that by 2020, it will be 100% enrolment,” he added.

He said the Convention of the Rights of the Child recognised the right of a child for education on the basis of giving equal opportunity to all children and making primary education compulsory and free.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, who also attended the event, said SBJK was set up in 2013 at the old Kuala Lumpur Education Department in Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz with an enrolment of 47 children. Today, there are 152 students.

To date, the school has 21 teachers and support staff who play the role of parents and companions to the students, he added.

He said SBJK offered education to Malaysian students from preschool to upper secondary (aged five to 19) in one location.

He said the children admitted to SBJK were street children, marginalised children and children without identification documents.

“It is not only a place to acquire knowledge, but also a dependable shelter,” Mahdzir said.

Miniature model: Najib being briefed by deputy secretary of the Education Ministry’s student development division (technical) Dzarif Yaacob (second from left) on the SBJK model as Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani (right) looks on.