MP starts online poll to retain name of St Teresa Serian

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Riot (standing left) speaks at the meeting with the school board of management.

SERIAN: Serian MP Datuk Seri Richard Riot has started an online poll to gauge people’s support in retaining the name of St Teresa Serian primary school.

The poll which commenced on his Facebook page since Thursday (July 30) has so far garnered close to 1,500 votes.

The voters were given a choice of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, on whether SK St Teresa Serian’s name should be maintained.

Many Facebook users who followed Riot’s page, commended the move to maintain the school’s name as a legacy for the people in Serian.

Meanwhile, Riot on Thursday also held a meeting with the school’s board of management led by its chairman Monsignor William Sabang at the Serian District education office.

In a Facebook posting, Riot said the discussions deliberated on ways to ensure that the school’s name is maintained.

The SK St Teresa Serian issue was mentioned in Parliament last week after Riot made an appeal to the federal government to stop the closure of the school, considered as one of the oldest in Sarawak.

Based on previous news reports, SK St Teresa Serian is being gradually closed after the Public Works Department certified the classroom blocks as unsafe.

It was also reported that the intake for Primary 1 classes will be stopped within five years starting 2019.

Riot also met with Serian Education officer Jimali Sunang on Monday where he was briefed on the situation regarding the 87-year-old school as the present school building is no longer fit to conduct classes.

“SK St Teresa Serian (St Teresa Serian Primary School), has been around since 1933 and is very nostalgic to the people here especially its former pupils, including myself.

“We hope we can find ways to maintain the name of this school and preserve its legacy, so that it will be a heritage for Serian,” said Riot after the meeting on Monday.

He was also quoted as saying several options could be considered to allow SK St Teresa Serian to continue operating, including to rent shoplots in town as a temporary building while new school blocks are being built.