By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, May 7: There are no plans to expand the area of Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Abang Abdul Rahman in Saratok due to the lack of space surrounding the school.
Deputy Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development I (Education and Innovation) Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee noted that the size of the primary school which was built on Jan 1, 1924, is only about 1.51 acres.
“According to the standards, the school’s size is only 25 per cent of the supposed 6-acre standard for a primary school.
“Moreover, the school is also surrounded by the District Office, Saratok District Council’s field, roads and quarters. This means there is no more open space left for the school’s expansion.
“Following this, the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE) has no plans to expand the area of SK Abang Abdul Rahman,” he said when answering a question from Kalaka assemblyman Mohamad Duri in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS) sitting here today.
Mohamad also asked whether Sarawak Education Department (JPNS) has plans to relocate the school to a more conducive area.
To this, Dr Annuar informed the august House that the school’s enrolment report has shown a declining trend from 677 students in 2019 to 579 in 2024—a 14 per cent decrease.
In terms of capacity, the school currently has 24 classrooms.
“If a classroom is estimated to have a maximum of 30 students, the maximum capacity of the school would be 720 students.
“Therefore, although the size of the school is small, it has adequate classroom capacity.
“Nevertheless, the proposed relocation of the school is a good suggestion and will be taken into consideration for the long-term plan so that we can overcome the issue of the school’s population density in the future,” he added. — DayakDaily
