In dire need of more time
Unrealistic for MoE to set timeline in solving problems affecting 3,000 dilapidated schools all over Malaysia
I fully understand that this issue has been dragging on for too long. However, please understand that we (Pakatan Harapan) only took over the government slightly over two months ago. As such, we really need more time to look into it. Teo Nie Ching, Deputy Minister of Education
KUCHING: The Ministry of Education ( MoE) has not received any report about ‘extremely sick projects’ involving dilapidated schools in Sarawak, although some of them have been experiencing delays.
Nevertheless, Deputy Minister of Education Teo Nie Ching says it is vital to investigate the root cause of this problem to facilitate the search for solutions.
In this regard, she plans to have a meeting on this with the Education Department of Sarawak.
“I fully understand that this issue has been dragging on for too long. However, please understand that we ( Pakatan Harapan, or PH) only took over the government slightly over two months ago.
“As such, we really need more time to look into it. Personally, I haven’t received the report on the delayed projects, but I will work with the Education Department of Sarawak to see what causes these delays.
“I cannot give you any timeline, which is not realistic because we are looking at 3,000 dilapidated schools in the whole of Malaysia – not only in Sarawak and Sabah,” she told reporters at Kampung Skio in Bau near here yesterday.
Teo was there to pay respects to the family of Catherine Janet Tiwi, 25, who was killed in the fi re that struck a primary school in Mulu early Wednesday.
It is said that she was among the three teachers accompanying the pupils attending a five- day Primary School Evaluation Test ( UPSR) motivation camp at SK Batu Bungan.
One of the two teachers who survived suffered 22 per cent burns and was rushed to Miri Hospital via a helicopter, while the other suffered minor injuries on her foot and received treatment at a clinic in Mulu.
“I am here today on behal f of Ministry of Education. The ( Education) Minister Dr Maszlee (Malik) is giving very high priority on this issue. He requested me to come here because he had to chair post- cabinet meeting today (yesterday).”
Teo also went to Miri Hospital to visit Nur Syuhada Azhari – the teacher who survived the fi re, but is left with serious burns – and later to Mulu, where she visited the other surviving teacher, Siti Masrina Nian.
“I was informed that she ( Nur Syuhada) is already transferred to Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching. I also went to SK Batu Bungan to see for myself the actual situation there,” said the deputy minister.
Teo hailed Catherine as ‘a rare breed – one who was willing to serve in the most remote school where others tried very hard to avoid’.
“We lack teachers with such passion. Many people want to become teachers, but very few are willing to serve in the rural areas. Catherine chose to serve in a rural area under category P3 – one of the most difficult areas. Her passing is a big loss to the MoE,” she said.
At the same time, Teo was also very concerned about the situation in Batu Bungan.
“I will bring up the issues related to dilapidated schools, to the minister ( Maszlee) – we will extend the allocation to make sure that the facilities there ( SK Batu Bungan) and in other schools would be well-maintained, so that such a sad tragedy would not happen again,” she said.
Met by reporters in Miri later yesterday, Teo also talked about the same issue. She said Malaysia has over 10,000 schools – both primary and secondary – and of this figure, around 3,000 are in dilapidated condition.
According to her, a dilapidated school does not mean that all its blocks and facilities are rendered unusable; however, if at least one building is classified as unsafe and unfit for occupation, then the whole school would be categorised as ‘dilapidated’.
“Ever since PH took over as the federal government, the MoE has been seeking for ways to tackle issues related to dilapidated schools. However, lack of allocation has been a major setback for us. Our ministry has discussed with the Ministry of Finance so as to obtain more allocations for the education sector, whichwill include the provision for expediting the process of upgrading the teacher’s quarters and dilapidated schools all over Sarawak,” she said after visiting Nur Syuhada.
Adding on, Teo assured all that the MoE would do its best to provide support and assistance to Nur Syuhada and her family.
“I was informed that the period for her ( Nur Syuhada) recovery would take quite a long time, but we at MoE will do our best so that she would have enough time to recover. It is our responsibility to ensure that she is getting the best treatment. It is vital for us to put the interest of the teachers on the forefront. If teachers are not well taken care of, they would not be able to provide education at its highest quality,” she said.
Later, Teo presented RM2,000 to Nur Syuhada’s husband Muhammad Rohaizad Abdul Rahim.