GE13: STATE BN WILL KEEP ITS PROMISE OF UPGRADING AND IMPROVING SCHOOLS

By STEVEN DANIEL
stevend@thestar.com.my
Photo by ABDUL RAHMAN EMBONG

Official: Abdul Ghani signing a plaque to officiate SJK (C) Pei Hwa's new four storey school block in Sg Mati, Ledang recently.

 

LEDANG: The Barisan Nasional led Johor state government will continue to honor its pledge to put education in the forefront, and among them is to repair and upgrade old primary and secondary schools in the state.

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said there are many old schools in Johor that were established before independence which are steeped in history.

He said the SJK(C) Pei Hwa primary school located in Sungai Mati here was established in 1929 and had its share of history when the school had to be shut down in 1932 for several years during the Japanese occupation.

“This school is a testament of the enduring spirit as it endured the tough times and flourished as they built their own secondary school and even a private school, all under the Pei Hwa banner.

“Sg Mati is a small town, but they have not let that stop them in establishing a school that has received numerous awards for excellence and good UPSR results over the past decade,” he said.

Abdul Ghani was speaking at a special dinner after officiating SJK(C) Pei Hwa’s new four storey school block which houses more than a dozen classrooms, canteen, computer lab, teachers room and the management office.

The new school block was built at a total cost of RM2.2mil with the Johor state government chipping in RM1mil. Construction of the new block was completed within a year in 2011 and had been operating since.

More than 1,500 people including Senator Ahamat Yusop, officials from the state education department, school headmistress Teo Ah Eeng and other state representatives and officials attended the dinner held recently.

Abdul Ghani said the school is one of the oldest Chinese schools in the state and that Ledang was also home to one of the oldest Malay schools as well.

“There are many schools in Johor that were in a dilapated state, but over the past several years, many of them have gone through extensive repair, restoration and upgrading works,” he said, adding that the trend will continue as long Barisan was in power in Johor.

Abdul Ghani also announced an additional allocation of RM250,000 to the school to repair its termite infested old classrooms to the rapturous applause of the crowd.

He also helped draw out the lucky draw numbers for those in attendance where prizes included hampers, electrical items and bicycles.

The crowd were entertained for 90 minutes with various performances done by the pupils from the school, including dancing to the tune of Chinese, Malay and Tamil songs. A Malay student of the school also recited a poem fluently in Mandarin.

The school’s yoyo club also performed a carefully choreographed performance in total darkness when the lights in the hall were switched off, barring only the green glow from the glow-in-the-dark yoyo.

SOURCE: THE STAR, APRIL 25, 2013