KUCHING: Sarawak will get its own Henry Gurney School (SHG) this year so that juvenile prisoners no longer need to leave the state for education as required under the Child Act 2001 and Prisons Act 1995.
Minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said until SHG Sarawak is set up, juvenile inmates are sent to Sabah, which has SHG (W) Kota Kinabalu and SHG Keningau.
As of yesterday, Sarawak has 55 juvenile inmates receiving education in the neighbouring state.
“Many parents have pleaded so that their children would not be sent to Sabah given that we do not have any SHG in Sarawak at the moment.
“We are glad to hear good news in 2014, that an SHG will be set up in Kuching,” she said during a visit to Sekolah Integriti (SI) at Puncak Borneo Prison in Padawan yesterday.
The other SHG is SHG Telok Mas in Melaka.
“Everybody deserves a second chance despite the mistakes they have made,” said Fatimah of juvenile convicts.
She said the government would continue running both SHG and SI so that juvenile prisoners could also receive education.
In the meantime, she pledged to look into the welfare of SI teachers here as well as the viability of establishing a childcare centre for prison officers and staff.
“We will give due attention to the welfare of SI teachers. As for a childcare centre here, we will do our best since this is also in line with the ministry’s target to set up more childcare centres at workplaces.
“It will be a win-win situation as when we look after the welfare of officers, productivity can be guaranteed.”
Established on Feb 20, 2009, SI Sarawak has 10 students and seven teachers. It recorded a 100 per cent pass rate for Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) in the past two years.
SI Sarawak is among eight such schools in the country.
The others are SI Kajang in Selangor, SI Kluang and SI Muar in Johor, SI Marang in Terengganu, SI Sungai Petani in Kedah, SI Kota Kinabalu in Sabah and SI Bentong in Pahang.
These schools had 98 teachers and 2,137 students as of last December.
The schools believe inmates can be rehabilitated and through education, can stand on their own feet when they are released.
Equipped with computers and resource centres, students are expected to perform academically and take part in extra-curricular activities.