KUCHING, Sarawak: In the Bengoh resettlement scheme in the interior of Sarawak, children study in a school that was converted from a developer’s management office.
“This is simply because there is not enough room to house all of them, and their families cannot afford to send them to schools in nearby villages,” said Mr Lo Khere Chiang, a councillor of the Padawan Municipal Council in Kuching.“There are schools that do not even have clean water or steady electricity supply.”
“Education is a basic right, but here in Sarawak, children are made to feel like it is a privilege,” Mr Lo lamented.SQUABBLES OVER FEDERAL FUNDINGIn its manifesto for the May 2018 general election , PH had pledged that the Sabah and Sarawak governments will be given the rights to make decisions in education and health matters.
However, it is still a reduction compared to the RM2.5 billion provided by the BN government in 2018. A wooden bridge over the river leads students from the main road to the school perched atop a small hill.As the school session ended, students were seen jumping over a large drain behind the school to get back to their hostel.
Its termite-infested canteen had collapsed following a storm and has not been fixed for over a year, so meals have to be delivered to the school as part of a government-run food programme.“We do not allow children around the playground as the equipment has all rusted,” said the school’s assistant student manager Narolah Barahim.