Repair run-down schools first, then talk about values-driven education, says activist

Activist Peter John Jaban says it is important to address any lack of basic facilities in schools before tackling other issues. (Bernama pic)

KUCHING: A human rights activist in Sarawak has warned that emphasising humanistic and positive values in the education system will not resolve physical issues such as ill-equipped schools which he says are killing pupils’ interest in attending class in rural areas.

According to Peter John Jaban, the sorry state of school infrastructure is one of the main reasons pupils are dropping out.

“Why would they want to go to school if there is a lack of basic facilities?” he asked.

“What’s the use of emphasising values when the roof is leaking or the floors are cracking? What’s the use of having computers if there is no supply of electricity?”

He was responding to the government’s plan to strengthen the education system through humanistic and values-driven education.

He told FMT that children living in the interior parts of the state had to walk many kilometres, sometimes barefooted, before they could reach their schools.

“They have to walk across bridges and logging roads which are not safe,” he said, adding that many boarding schools and teachers’ quarters were also in poor condition.

He said the lack of clean water supply was another issue faced by most school authorities in rural areas.

“They depend very much on rain water and if they run out of it, the pupils will go to the river nearby to get water supply.

“(But) it is not safe to consume the water at the river due to the production of industrial waste from sawmills and palm oil industries upriver, which results in a lot of pupils getting skin diseases,” he said, adding that they were also exposed to the danger posed by crocodiles in the river. - FMT