KUCHING: Breakthrough Network Centre Berhad (BNCB) will soon operate a childcare centre at Kampung Tabuan Melayu dedicated to serving children from needy families who do not go to regular schools.
Its director James Lee said the childcare centre, which is the second to be established after D’Wira Childcare Centre at Desa Wira here, is expected to be up and running by this year-end.
“The new childcare centre at Kampung Tabuan Melayu is currently under construction and once completed, it will provide children from four to 15 years old, particularly undocumented children or school dropouts with Montessori styled pre-school and primary education,” he told reporters after paying a courtesy call on Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah at her office yesterday.
He added that the childcare centre, which is situated on a 26-point land, will be able to provide basic education to children from Kampung Tabuan Melayu as well as Kampung Cemerlang.
Asked how many children in these areas did not receive formal education, Lee estimated that there were about 200 children from within the vicinity of Kampung Tabuan Melayu, which has a population of roughly 3,000.
“Some of these children are dropouts and there are also those without documentation, which we hope that through the childcare centre, we can ensure that they at least receive some basic education while waiting for their documentation to be processed,” he explained.
BNCB’s childcare centre at Desa Wira, which was established in 2008, currently caters to 85 children from Desa Wira, Stapok, Sinar Budi and also Kampung Tabuan Melayu.
Apart from education, the centre also provides meals, recreational, health and motivational activities, thereby helping children find their true value in society in the midst of poverty.
As a non-profit, non-political organisation that assists the poor, marginalised and dispossessed, BNCB is also involved in a ‘natural farming’ programme which helps families to learn new, environment-friendly, cost-effective and higher yielding methods of farming.
“Currently, we have 15 families from Lundu, Sematan and Serian under this programme where they are taught to plant vegetables and passion fruit among other things,” Lee said.
Breakthrough Network Centre chief operations officer Alfred Phua and directors Neduncheliyan and Lau Mee Yieng were present during the courtesy call.