Improving school facilities in Sabah
THE Education Ministry is working together with the Sabah Education Department to improve school facilities and infrastructure in the state. Senior Education Minister Dr Radzi Jidin, on a working visit to Sabah, has been visiting schools in the interior areas of Sabah to see for himself the condition of the buildings and facilities and to find out their problems.
For example, students who are staying at the old dormitories of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Bandaraya here used to be at risk of getting injured.
“I was informed that those who stayed at the school hostels had to take their baths outside of the building, in makeshift showers made from zinc.
“It was dangerous, what if there is lightning (and it strikes those students), who will be taking the responsibility for that?,” he said during a luncheon with teaching professionals at a hotel here on his last day of a 5-day working trip to Sabah yesterday.
Also present was Sabah Education director Dr Mistrine Radin.
Radzi added when he visited the school, which used to be known as SMK Menggatal, he was surprised to hear that students could not use the new hostel building which was completed in 2014.
“The taxpayers money has been spent. By right, the students should have been able to enjoy the facility but unfortunately those students have had to use less conducive hostels.
“It has been almost six years, but now it is being solved within a month,” he said, adding that such issues could be settled in a short period of time due to the direct involvement of the ministry.
For the past three weeks, the minister has been touring the state and meeting with teachers and the local community to get to know issues at the grassroots level.
However, Radzi said he only managed to visit about 90 schools after the Movement Control Order whereas there are more than 10,000 schools all over the country.
He hopes that the state Education departments and district education officers will work together to help list down issues that are critical so that they can be solved faster.
The minister also cited a school in Ranau affected by the earthquake in 2015, which has been paying thousands of ringgit in water bills for the past seven years due to unfixed burst pipes.
“When we cannot solve issues that have been going on for up to eight years, it means that we have failed.
“Education involves a holistic ecosystem and everyone has to play their role,” he said, adding that he hoped to improve the system in the state as he had witnessed the children in Sabah studying diligently despite their school buildings being in dire condition.
Apart from the luncheon, Radzi also met with teaching professionals, parents and students at their homes, and at several schools in Ranau, Kota Marudu, Kudat, Kota Belud and Tuaran.
During the school visits in Kota Belud, he also highlighted Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Rampayan Ulu which needs to improve its canteen to be more comfortable and spacious for the pupils.
Besides the limited space, the canteen also does not have a concrete floor.
The ministry, when reopening schools in stages in July following the implementation of MCO, has prevented students from having their meals in the canteen to minimise the spread of Covid-19 infection in school compounds.
As for another school SK Peladok, also in Kota Belud, Radzi said the school needs to have a decent hall for students to be used during assembly, otherwise the children would either have to suffer under the hot sun or get drenched if it rains.
Meanwhile, on the recent developments of the high number of Covid-19 cases in Sabah, Radzi reminded teachers and administrators to practise strict adherence to standard operating procedures (SOP) on infection prevention measures.
“It is easier for the school children to follow the procedures, but for teachers, especially when taking photos, it is difficult for them to do the same.
“We (teaching professionals) should show a good example for the students by following the SOPs.”
At the ministerial level, Radzi assures that they will continue to monitor the situation.
“The ministry will discuss the decision on possible school closures with the experts from the National Security Council and the Health Ministry just like how it happened in Kuching (Sarawak) where about 200 schools were closed.
“If a school is closed (due to the infection), it will become complicated to reopen it. Therefore, teachers have to ensure the standard operating procedure is being observed well,” he said.
During the working visit, Radzi also presented offer letters to students to further their studies in Form 6; vocational colleges; back-to-school; and stay-at-hostel programmes under the ministry to ensure no one is left behind from getting access to education.