KUCHING: Sarawak Bumiputera Teacher’s Union (KGBS) welcomes the Ministry of Education’s announcement to build more dormitory facilities in rural schools in East Malaysia.
“We hope that the construction can be implemented immediately for the welfare of Sarawakian schoolchildren in rural areas,” said the union’s president Ahmad Malie, in an SMS to the press yesterday.
He was responding to a statement by Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi who said that the Ministry of Education would build more dormitory facilities in rural schools in Sabah and Sarawak to overcome the problems of student dropouts and truancy.
Ahmad also expressed the union’s gratitude to the Deputy Education Minister for his timely announcement as KGBS has brought up this issue with the ministry before.
He also said the the union hopes that the ministry would pay serious attention in its effort to improve education in rural areas.
“In addtion, KGBS hopes that the construction of dormitory facilities will be put forward simultaneously with the appropriate appointments to further smoothen its implementation.
“For example, there must be a hostel supervisor and also a student affairs assistant to ensure the safety and welfare of students at the hostel,” he said.
Yesterday, The Borneo Post reported Dr Puad as saying that the long distance of schools from villages were among the deterents for students reporting for class.
However, Dr Puad did not elaborate on the exact numbers of dropouts and truancy cases in Sarawak.