THERE has been muted response in Sarawak to Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik’s recent announcement of “a special allocation” of RM35.74 million to fix 853 dilapidated schools this year.

Only PKR’s Julau MP Larry Sng has remarked on it, calling the allocation a speedy response by the new Pakatan Harapan federal government to address the needs of students, teachers and staff of rural schools.

Gabungan Parti Sarawak leaders, however, have remained mum, as the amount is just a slice of the RM4 billion to RM5 billion that the state requested to repair 1,020 of 1,454 schools – or 70% – that are considered dilapidated.

And, of the 1,020 schools, 415 – or nearly 40% – are categorised as “critically dilapidated”.

“When we say critically dilapidated, it means they cannot be repaired. They can only be rebuilt,” state Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Michael Manyin told the state assembly last month.

When the then Barisan Nasional federal government allocated RM1 billion for the repair of Sarawak schools in this year’s budget, Manyin had summarily dismissed it as “just not enough”.

“We need RM4 billion,” he had said then.

Manyin added that RM1 billion could only fix 40 to 50 rundown schools.

The issue of dilapidated schools is not new, and has been debated in the state assembly and court of public opinion for the better part of the last decade.

When teacher Donaldson J. (not his real name) first discovered that he would be posted to a school in Ulu Katibas, Song, after completing his teacher’s training in 1994, his first reaction was: “Wow! There is a school so deep in the interior.”

From the riverbank where he landed, he had yet to see the school or his quarters up close. But when he did, it made him second-guess his choice of career.

“I was surprised at the condition of the school,” said Donaldson, who would only relate his experience “teaching in the wild” on the condition that he is not identified, for fear of falling foul of the civil service’s standing orders.

“It was terrible,” he told The Malaysian Insight of the school, recalling the holes in its roof and ceiling, rotting walls and floorboards, flaking paint, broken blackboards, and desks and tables in need of immediate replacement.

He said his quarters, built on stilts and propped against a hill slope, resembled a “chicken shack”.

The school, SK Tan Sri Jugah, was named after Iban paramount chief and one of the founding fathers of Malaysia, Jugah Barieng.

There was, however, nothing paramount about the school, said Donaldson.

To get to the school, he would have to take a longboat from the small riverine town of Song on Sg Rajang and then journey up Sg Katibas and Sg Bangkit – tributaries of Sg Rajang.

The journey “on a good day” normally takes three to four hours.

Since the nearest sundry shop is hours away, the longboat is usually loaded with foodstuff and other essential supplies that would last him at least a month.

The location and the difficulty in getting to SK Tan Sri Jugah made it an almost forgotten school, he said, one that suffered from exposure to the elements and progress of time.

Even years later, Donaldson said, SK Tan Sri Jugah looked just as it did the first time he saw it, save for minor repairs here and there.

“We used to have to repair the quarters ourselves, so that they would be fit for staying in. Teachers needed to be carpenters and mechanics to repair the school’s generator set and outboard engine.”

Deputy Chief Minister James Masing last year said the federal government’s reluctance to provide funds to repair and improve rural schools over the years had led to the current situation.

Up till today, the Education Ministry has awarded contracts to repair only 116 schools, said Manyin in his report to the state assembly.

There was, however, some dispute over whether the total amount of the contract, RM419.05 million, should be drawn from the PH government.

Manyin said based on the decision made during a presentation to the National Economic Council on October 9 last year, the amount should not be part of the RM1 billion approved under Budget 2018, but under the 11th Malaysia Plan.

He also said the implementation of repair works did not follow the state’s priority list of critically dilapidated schools.

The state government’s patience over the issue is clearly wearing thin, leading Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg to propose that the state bear the initial cost of RM1 billion to fix the schools, with the PH federal government reimbursing it later.

So far, the only response to the offer has been from Works Minister Baru Bian, who said the offer could be “negotiated upon, for the sake of Sarawakians”.

With the PH government still in transition and bogged down by financial constraints, the state government has, in some cases, intervened in repairs and construction at schools with its own funds.

It recently approved funding for the relocation and rebuilding of two schools that were critically dilapidated and prone to flooding.

Manyin said the relocation and rebuilding of SK Ulu Segan in Bintulu would cost the state RM40.1 million, while the same exercise with SK Maludam in Betong would cost RM48.2 million.

Under its Rural Transformation Initiatives, 67 schools are being repaired and upgraded on a RM21 million budget.

Manyin said work on some of these schools has commenced, and is expected to be completed later this year and next year. – August 5, 2018.