MIRI: The Penans’ dream of having a secondary school by their doorstep is finally coming true, with the earth-breaking ceremony of the first K9 standard, or comprehensive secondary school at Long Bedian in Central Baram tomorrow.
Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi is expected to launch the comprehensive school project, paving the way for Penan parents to send their children there when it is completed.
DREAM TO MATERIALISE: The Long Bedian settlement.
Unfortunately, officials contacted were unable to confirm the expected date of completion of the school project.
In fact, Telang Usan assemblyman Lihan Jok, in welcoming the move by the federal government to build the school at Long Bedian which is near to 15 Penan longhouses and settlements in Middle Baram, said he had no details as to cost or when construction would begin.
Nonetheless, he said he was happy that the government had decided to build a K9 standard secondary school for the Penans as the subject was something that he had brought up with the higher authorities several times in recent years.
Presently, most Penan students in Baram have to travel all the way to SMK Long Lama, SMK Long San, SMK Bakong, SMK Marudi, SMK Bario and others in the Miri division to further their studies, while SMK Tinjar at Lapok in Tinjar is yet to be ready for classes.
The nearest secondary school is SMK Long Lama, which is about three hours away by 4WD vehicle from Long Bedian where the majority of the Penan community is found.
Meanwhile, the state government had spent over RM0.6 million in various assistance schemes, including transportations, school uniforms and writing materials for Penan children between 2007 and 2009.
Lihan yesterday described bringing the school closer to the Penan as the most practical approach of encouraging more Penan students to continue secondary education after completing their primary school education.
“We don’t want them to drop out after Primary 6, and this comprehensive-concept school will be closer to their doorstep and I have been made to understand that it will accommodate up to 300 students when completed,” he said.
The Borneo Post was made to understand that the school was approved by the Education Ministry for students from Form 1 to Form 5 and is part of the approach to help stem high dropout rate from among the Penan community.
For Monday’s earth-breaking ceremony, Mohd Puad and entourage will travel to Long Bedian about five to six hours by road from Miri today, and will spend the night there interacting with local communities before proceeding to perform the earth-breaking ceremony the following morning.
He will fly back to Miri after visiting SMK Lama the following day en route to Kuching to continue his visit to a secondary and five primary schools in Batang Sadong.