Upgrade for 25 Lumadan schools
Published on: Friday, January 26, 2024
By: Iskandar Dzulkifli
Ruslan (third left) presenting a kit of stationery to one of the SPM candidates of SMK Gadong in the event.
BEAUFORT: Some 26 schools with a scale of 7 (unsafe) in Lumadan will be included in the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) for improvement.
Its Assemblyman Datuk Ruslan Muharam said it is necessary because the average condition of the schools involved is “deteriorating” because it has been too long and need immediate attention from the relevant ministries.
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He said there are some schools that are still using buildings made of wooden boards even though they were built 50 years ago and it is feared that they are no longer safe.
“Most of the list of Scale 7 schools had been included in 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) but until now there has been no action which caused us to raise them and be included in 13MP,” he said after officiating a blessing programme for Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM) and Malaysian Higher Certificate (STPM) students at SMK Gadoing, here, on Wednesday.
He said there are two more schools identified under Scale 7 to be included in 13MP, namely SMK Gadong and SK Lupak where roofs in one of the buildings in both schools had been blown away by storms before, affecting the students’ learning process.
“Therefore, I hope the Public Works Department (JKR) can make an immediate assessment of these two schools to enable the Beaufort District Education Office (PPD) to prepare a report to be included in the 13MP.
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“At the same time, I will also discuss with the Member of Parliament for Sipitang (Datuk Matbali Musah) to voice this matter at the next parliamentary session to ensure that the relevant ministries take appropriate action,” he said.
Ruslan, who is also Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, said a comfortable, safe and conducive school environment would not only benefit students but also teachers in the respective schools but also contribute to producing outstanding students.
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He said there are many excellent students in his constituency but they were targeting more to get good results which might not be realised if safety issues were not addressed.
“This will also affect the children’s learning. I hope that any school in a state of dilapidation will be upgraded in order to produce many excellent students in line with our tagline ‘Lumadan Sejahtera’ (Well-being of Lumadan),” he said.
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