Education Ministry Confident About Resolving “Shared Schools” Issue in Sabah

By Ben Liew  •  19 Sep 2020 in News

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The Ministry of Education is optimistic about seeing a healthy resolution to the issue of “shared schools” in Sabah in the near future.

“Shared schools” or “squatting schools” are schools for students, staff and teachers who are in the process of moving to another school that is still under construction. They include primary school students at a secondary school, vice-versa, or two primary schools in the same building.

Senior Minister for Education, Dr Radzi Jidin said it is crucial for the students to be able to learn in a conducive environment hence the issue has been one of his top priorities since his visit to Sabah which is now entering its third week.

“When I first took the post for Senior Minister for Education, amongst the pressing issues that were reported was the issue of ‘shared’ schools. We are aware of the urgency of this matter,” he said.

Dr Radzi explained that there are currently 23 “shared schools” in Sabah and noted that most of the issues involved secondary schools “squatting” at primary schools.

“There are many schools that require attention, but we will look into coordinating those allocations based on priority for shared schools with high capacity,” he said.

During his visit, Dr Radzi noted that SMK Langkon in Kota Marudu is one of the schools that requires urgent attention as it is in dire condition.

SMK Langkon currently shares its premises with SK Langkon. Because there is not enough space, the secondary school has had to conduct makeshift classes below the stilted primary school to accommodate students.

Dr Radzi said that SMK Langkon’s building was supposed to be completed a long time ago, but construction was delayed due to several reasons. The ministry has now opened tender to rebuild the secondary school, and is optimistic that it will be ready in the near future.