Pupils, teachers finally get to move out of rickety old estate school

SIMPANG RENGGAM: The new school term this year is especially memorable for a group of 17 students and their teachers, as they are finally able to move out from their old rickety estate school located in an oil palm estate here.

The new school, located within the town area, was given the green light to open at the 11th hour by the Education Department on Dec 31.

The new SJK(T) Tun Dr Ismail building is among the few Tamil schools in the state which were previously termed “white elephants” because despite being fully completed, they did not open for a few years due to issues.

In the case of SJK(T) Tun Dr Ismail, the school was stalled from opening as there was no access road to bridge the 150m distance between the school and the main road.When contacted, the school’s Parent Teacher Association chairman S. Kesavan, described the move to the new school as the “best new year gift” for all students and teachers.

He said he was in disbelief when the education officers told him that starting on Wednesday, the students would be able to move to the new school.

“Previously the children were ferried in a van for about 17km to the estate school, ” he said, adding that the students had to wake up as early as 6am for the journey.

Kesavan, who has a daughter in Year Four, said the journey was gruelling as the students had to travel on a winding gravel road which got worse whenever it rained.

Besides its headmistress, the school has seven teachers.

Kesevan said the new school had two new blocks with classrooms, a teachers’ room, a canteen and a science laboratory.

“We are now in the midst of recruiting more students as this school can accommodate more than 200 students, ” he said in an interview.

The Star had previously reported that several Tamil schools state wide faced construction delays and had yet to open.

The schools still facing problems include SJK(T) Bandar Sri Alam in Pasir Gudang, SJK(T) Ladang Niyor in Kluang, SJK(T) Jalan Tajul in

Kota Tinggi and SJK(T) Kulai Oil Palm in Kulai.

State unity, domestic trade and consumer affairs committee chairman Dr S. Ramakrishnan said efforts were being made to ensure that the remaining four Tamil schools could open this year.

“They were not able to open on Jan 1 but I am confident, based on the feedback I got from the Education Ministry, that all the problems will be ironed out and the schools will be opened later this year, ” he said.

There are currently 70 Tamil schools in Johor.