THANKS: Ambrose (second left) hands over a souvenir to Nanta who officiated at the SMK Kapit AGM. From left are Manggie, Hendry, Rahman, Teoh, Kuek and Anna.
KAPIT: No matter how remote the areas, the government still built schools, Kapit MP Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi said.
He was officiating at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of SMK Kapit at the school’s new hall yesterday.
“Though some of the remote and rural schools are short of students, the government does not close them. As long as the children are willing to go to school and parents willing to send their children to school, the government will continue to support the school despite the cost.”
He said the government had provided assistance to teachers and students through incentives: RM100 cash assistance, allowance to those serving in remote areas (RM500, RM1000 and RM1500) and scholarships.
Nanta reminded parents of their responsibility in educating their children and motivating them to excel.
“Parents need to mould their children to become useful citizens by inculcating moral values and discipline,” he said.
He added that poor discipline and lack of awareness among students led to vandalism in schools.
“As parents we are duty bound to educate our children to take good care of school property. Students need to study in a conducive environment. We do not want them to live in a hostel with faulty beds, broken window panes, malfunctioning and dirty toilets or classrooms with broken chairs and tables,” he said.
On the performance of the school especially in last year’s PMR where 14 students scored straight 8As and 48 at least 4As, he congratulated teachers, parents and students for their commitment.
“We can achieve such success because of the conducive learning environment in the school with a proper hostel, clean environment, clean classrooms and good teachers. I am hopeful that this year many more students could get straight As.”
“This year our target is to get double the number of students with straight As. This is our challenge. If other schools can achieve this why can’t we?” Nanta asked.
He announced a grant of RM20,000 for the school.
Of that RM15,000 was for the PTA to help the school improve its academic performance and another RM5,000 for tourism related projects.
Present were the PTA chairman Ambrose Abong Bugek, principal Manggie Nyegang, senior assistants Kuek Bon Siau and Hendry Wang, Deputy Resident (Social) Mohd Ikhmal Abdullah, heads of government agencies, teachers and more than 1,000 parents.