Ugak (seated sixth right) having a group photo with the teaching staff of SMK Bakun, Sg Asap, Belaga.
KUCHING: SMK Bakun at the Sg Asap resettlement scheme in Belaga has 82 teachers and 10 administrative staff but only 36 quarters for them.
The school is sending an urgent plea to the Education Ministry to build more quarters for its teachers and other staff.
Hulu Rajang MP Wilson Ugak Kumbong who highlighted the predicament of the teachers there said the government
should give priority to building enough quarters for teachers in rural areas as it was difficult to rent houses in small towns or settlements.
“Currently, there are only 36 teachers’ quarters at SMK Bakun to cater for 82 teachers and 10 non-teaching staff. Those who have no quarters have to rent in the longhouses nearby.
“I urge the Federal Government to build more quarters there,” Ugak told The Borneo Post yesterday.
He added that the school did not have proper facilities its 1,200 students and the most urgent need is for a science laboratory.
“This year the education ministry has been allocated RM56 billion. I hope there would be substantial amount allocated to Sarawak especially for rural schools such as SMK Bakun,” said Ugak.
Earlier, when officiating at the Excellent Performance Award for SMK Bakun, Ugak said the large allocation for education next year was in line with the government’s National Education Blueprint that focused on new initiatives in improving schools throughout the country.
“This new Blueprint includes the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) 2.0 for the Education National Key Result Area (NKRA) which focused on various initiatives for the development of schools, headmasters and principals, teachers and students.
“Among the initiatives is the need to improve the performance of schools and this initiative is very encouraging as schools which attain the High Performance School (HPS) status will get a reward of RM700,000 to maintain their status,” he said, adding that currently there are 52 HPS throughout the country.
Ugak encouraged the teachers, students and their parents to work together to try to attain HPS status for SMK Bakun.