Three interior schools in Sabah postpone opening

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A student crossing a dilapidated suspension bridge to Sekolah Kebangsaan Sibuga Besar in Sandakan on the first day of school on Monday.-Bernama photo

KOTA KINABALU (Jan 10): Three schools in the interior of Sabah postponed the opening of their third term session for 2021/2022 due to flooding.

State Education Department director Datuk Mistirine Radin said the schools are Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Penontomon in Pensiangan, SK Pantai Boring in Beluran and the pre-school of SK Lago Beaufort.

“SK Penontomon involved a total of 69 students and 12 teachers, SK Pantai Boring a total of 85 students and 13 teachers while SK Lago 15 students, one teacher and a student management assistant (PPM).

“The students involved will continue with the teaching and learning at home (PdPR) session starting today, January 10 until the flood subsides and the schools are safe and clean for physical schooling,” Mistirine said in a statement.

According to her, a total of 1,293 schools started the face-to-face sessions on Monday with a total of 536,395 students and 42,046 teachers.

Of the total, 1,075 were primary schools and another 218 were secondary schools, she said, adding that 320,912 are primary school students and 215,483 are secondary school students.

The number of teachers for primary schools is 26,146, while the number of secondary school teachers is 15,900, she said.

She also disclosed that a total of 38 private schools under the purview of the Malaysian Education Ministry also started their school sessions on Monday which involved a total of 7,149 students comprising 1,075 primary school students from 18 schools and 6,074 secondary school students from 20 schools.

Meanwhile, Form Two student Atif Isfahan Ramzi, 14, of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Pekan Telipok, Tuaran, said he was excited to attend face-to-face schooling though he was a bit anxious to learn the results of his exams taken before the school holidays.

“It is no problem to go back into Form Two and go into Form Three a little later as there is still time to ‘catch-up’ with Form Two work,” he said.

Ismail Jahid, 46, said his two Form One and Form Four children, who attend SMK Bengkongan, Kota Marudu are using the school uniforms and shoes from last year because these items could still be used.

However, he is disappointed that the children’s school books and equipment were damaged due to the recent floods.

“Everything was submerged in the recent floods. We can wash and reuse our clothes but other items such as books have been damaged. Thankfully, the government provided us assistance to buy books and stationery, so the children are happy to start school,” he added.