Arifin (third left, second row) with the award recipients.
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Islamic Affairs Department (Jheains) is urged to ensure that infrastructure facilities at all Sekolah Agama Negeri (SAN) are taken care of.
Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Arifin Mohd Arif said the department must therefore ensure that the allocation given to it by the state government is spent on developing and improving the infrastructure facilities at these religious schools.
Arifin said he had been informed that there were schools that needed to be repaired and also improved.
“Action has been taken to resolve the issues with the schools and we urge Jheains to continue to monitor the situation,” he said at Jheains’ Teachers Day celebration here yesterday.
He disclosed that a few new SAN and a Sekolah Masjid will be ready for use soon while the Sekolah Menengah Agama Keningau and the Maahad Tahfiz in Sembulan will be completed this year.
“A large number of the schools have been repaired and there are a few more which need to be upgraded. I have visited most of the schools,” he said, adding that the reason for the delay in the projects to carry out repairs was the allocation.
“Some we have yet to take action and some waiting for allocation like the Sekolah Agama at Peladuk Kota Belud which was destroyed by fire last year. The project will be implemented as soon as we get the allocation. Same goes for Sekolah Agama which is operating out of Kuala Penyu Mosque. This is a priority as it is used by three villages,” he stressed.
He disclosed that there are 114 SAN out of which six are secondary schools, one a diploma-level Maahad Tahfiz and 14 kindergartens in Sabah.
During the event, Arifin also presented several excellence awards to best performing schools in the PT3, Sijil Menengah Malaysia, Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia and the Sijil Rendah Ugama examinations.
Teachers as well as school administrations which gave the best service were also recognized and presented with awards.