SMK Sungai Tapang in dire need of repairs, funding – PTA chairman

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Kho (second right) presents the award to a student while SMK Sungai Tapang senior administration assistant Angela Bong Yan Yan (third left) and others look on.

KUCHING: SMK Sungai Tapang is in dire need of repairs and funding in order to create a conducive learning environment for the students, said the school Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) chairman Kho Kien Siong.

According to Kho, most of the school repairs works were forced to depend on the PTA fund and contributions from the parents.

“Even the parents had decided to take up the responsibilities and fixed the faulty facilities themselves,” he told reporters at the Excellence Awards Ceremony held at SMK Sungai Tapang at Jalan Liu Shan Bang at Kota Sentosa here today.

“We really hope that the federal and state government will look at this issue seriously and allocate the needed fund to us.”

“As the chairman of SMK Sungai Tapang PTA, it is my utmost responsibility to protect the interest of the school as it was the mandate given by the parents,” he said in his opening speech at the ceremony.

He said that many facilities at the school needs immediate attention such as faulty ceiling fans, doors, tables and many more.

“We exhausted all channels of communication to request the fund needed but to no avail,” Kho told the reporters.

To make matter worse, he said that many people did not know the location of the SMK Sungai Tapang.

On the four science laboratories that were razed by fire in 2016, he said that the physical construction of the laboratories had completed but the fund received was not sufficient to purchase all the laboratories equipment needed.

“Requests for fund had been sent to the Malaysia Education Ministry but we had not receive any reply so far.”

Kho said that the repair works of school cannot be delayed as it would affect the students learning experience without the proper facilities and equipment.

“For an example, an incomplete laboratory affect the competency of the students as they cannot fully practice what they had learnt, especially for students who are sitting for their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) this month. ”

It is learned that at least RM50,000 is needed to purchase all the required equipment and materials for the laboratories.

“Through the media platform, I hope that the public will be aware of the difficulties that the school is facing,” Kho said.

He stressed that he was not trying to blame any party for the current situation but hoped that the predicament of the school can be improved promptly.

On the boys toilet, the school headmaster Bekon Jenet said that the school has a student population of 1,085 and overuse was one the factors that resulted in the poor condition of the boys toilet.

Moreover, Kho also added that students could easily looked into boy toilets and it had caused unease and embarrassment among the male students.

“The parents had been asking on what PTA had done to solve the issue but we had already exhausted all means to solve it.”

He also highlighted that missing wash basins, plumbing blockages and leakages are some of the main issues of the boys toilet.

“Even the parents had challenged me that I will be the best PTA chairman of the school if I managed to solve the toilets problems once and for all.”

However, it is also learnt that state education department had approved RM20,000 for the repair of the school boys toilet via the Kota Samarahan District Education Office (DEO) but it is deemed insufficient.

According to the survey by The Borneo Post reporter, the school boys toilet was indeed in dire need of repairs and the overwhelming stench of urine had been standing around the toilet unbearable.

On last note, Kho was perplexed on the challenges that the school faced in getting fund.

“It is really hard for our school to get the much needed fund. It seems like they do not care about the development of SMK Sungai Tapang at all,” he said.

On a separate note, Becon congratulated all the awards recipients and hope that the students would continue to strive for success in making themselves and their families proud.