THE death of a young schoolteacher in a fire earlier this week has brought attention to the sorry condition of Sarawak’s rural schools and the hardship it imposes on the teachers 

Catherine Janet Tiwi had run back into the burning staff quarters at SK Batu Bungan to rouse her two sleeping colleagues.

Her two colleagues survived the pre-dawn fire, albeit with serious injuries, on Wednesday, but the 25-year-old did not.

The fire razed the wooden quarters where Catherine and her colleagues were temporarily billeted while they attended a motivational course.

Catherine is a Bidayuh from Bau who had taught at SK Penghulu Baya Mallang in Apoh, Baram, for over a year.

Her death is the talk of the town for several reasons: her courage and selflessness in running back into a burning building to rescue her colleagues, the dilapidated condition of Sarawak’s rural schools, and that she was the only daughter of a senior fire and rescue officer.

Following the tragedy, Sarawak Education and Technological Research Assistant Minister Dr Annuar Rapaee said the state needed about RM5 billion to repair and rebuild more than 1,000 schools, 70% of which were considered critically dilapidated.

Former teacher Augustine Sain Maja said Catherine’s selflessness was a trait shared by many rural teachers.

The 61 year-old Engkilili native, who had spent his teaching career in rural schools until he retired six years ago, said Sarawak’s rural teachers were closely knit and looked out for one another.

“Race, religion and their background are all thrown out of the window. Here they learn to lean on one another as they try to make the best of a hard life,” Maja told The Malaysian Insight.

“We have to depend on one another to make the best of a tough life in the wild.

“If we need assistance, we know we can ask any of our colleagues and they will oblige.”

Maja learnt the meaning of close-knit when he was posted in 1987 to SK Nanga Tibu in Ulu Engkari, Lubok Antu.

The school, like most rural schools, had no electricity and running water.

Everything was crammed in one building – the classrooms, the teachers’ room and a boarding house for over 100 pupils who came from surrounding longhouses.

His “quarters” was a 12ft square “tin box”.

“The roof was corrugated zinc and so were the four walls but it had all the comforts I needed – a bedroom, a kitchen and a sitting room,” he said with a laugh.

The “bathroom” was down by the river.

To get to the school, one had to take a longboat because there wasn’t a road.

On the occasional trip home, Maja would have to cross the “lake” that was the Batang Ai hydroelectric dam and travel up a small tributary which waters were treacherous in the rainy season.

During the dry season, it was a back-breaking 5-hour trip as the longboat had to be pulled across the shallow sections of the river and then hauled over three “waterfalls”.

It was a trip he never took alone.

“You must be a crazy man with super strength to haul the boat up the waterfalls,” he said.

He was always accompanied by fellow teachers returning to the school.

Despite the difficulties, Maja surprisingly enjoyed every minute of his three “wonderful years” there.

“I asked for the transfer,” he said.

“I asked to be sent there as I wanted the exposure.”

After the initial shock, he set out to make a life for himself there.

Maja said he was soon getting the other teachers, the older pupils and longhouse residents to build the school.

In their free time during the weekends, the camaraderie was further enhanced through hunting or fishing trips.

“That’s how we learnt to lean on one another and this is the same in all rural schools. There’s no manual for it. It’s natural instinct.”

Catherine’s funeral yesterday was attended by Sarawak Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Michael Manyin, DAP Mas Gading MP Mordi Bimol and the whole of Kampung Skio.

The Prime Minister’s Office expressed concern over the tragedy and instructed the Education Ministry to look into it.

Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching held a dialogue session with the teachers, Parent-Teacher Association members and community leaders at SK Batu Bungan in Mulu on Friday. – July 29, 2018.