KOTA KINABALU: For more than two decades, SMK Kanibongan in Sabah’s northern Pitas district has been occupying the SK Kanibongan school building.
Despite the lack of facilities and extremely limited study space, some students from the secondary school still managed to emerge as top performers in major examinations including SPM.
Sabah PKR Women’s chief Rahimah Majid said these students and pupils have such strong wills to study and change their lives, and it is the duty of the government to help them.
“We hope the federal government will look into the ongoing construction of SMK Kanibongan and ensure that works are completed as soon as possible,” she said during the school’s annual parent-teacher meeting on Thursday (Feb 28).
“We understand that SMK Kanibongan is currently occupying the primary school temporarily until the construction of the new building is completed,” she said.
Rahimah said among the school's achievements were having the best Form Three (PT3) performance in Pitas for three consecutive years and the best performing school in the area for SPM in 2017.
She said even with the current situation, SMK Kanibongan had succeeded in producing top students who have achieved the best examination results in Pitas.
“With a newer school that provides better facilities, we know that our students here will feel more comfortable and be more motivated in achieving greater results,” she said.
Apart from the school building, Rahimah said there was also a dire need for its hostel to be renovated.
“Many students depend on the hostel as they cannot afford to travel so far from their villages to get to school every day,” Rahimah said.
She said the hostel is in very poor condition and quite dangerous due to unstable and old structures.