THE Minister of Education commended Sultan Hashim Batu Apoi Primary School, Temburong, for its great achievements in the extra-curricular activities (ECA) despite having a small number of pupils.Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Dr Hj Abu Bakar Hj Apong was in the district for a working visit as part of the continuation of the ministry's inspection on school's academic development particularly with the 21st Century National Education System (SPN21).During the visit, the delegation toured the school which has only 119 pupils, focusing on its teaching and learning facilities. They also interacted with the pupils and teachers.
"I am proud and amazed by the progress achieve by the school in implementing several improvement programmes such as School Improvement Programme (SIP) and School Leadership Programme (SLP)," said the minister.
The primary school headmaster, Hj Siasa Tambah said that the programmes have helped the teachers and pupils improve their teachings and learnings. They expect that the school will achieve 100 per cent pass in its Primary Assessment Examination (PSR) this year, with at least two out of its 15 pupils scoring 5A's.During the working visit, the minister was given the honour to launch the school's ICT outreach programme. The programme was the school's initiative in upholding His Majesty's titah during this year's Knowledge Cconvention where the monarch urged intellectuals and teachers to go the extra mile to disseminate their knowledge to the community.The sessions will be held twice a month, one hour every Tuesday and Wednesday until next year and they are for the pupils' parents.
"This will make them (the parents) to become computer literate. This will also help them in monitoring their children online activities, particularly with regards to Internet crimes. In this matter, parents' awareness is really important," said Pehin Dato Hj Abu Bakar."I hoped what have been done in this school will become an example for others to follow suit." "The school is not just satisfied with what it had achieved, but they continue to work towards achieving greater excellence. This excellence, I believe, comes from the cooperation between teachers, pupils and parents," he said. The programme receives positive response from parents, so much that the number of parents wishing to join it exceeded the quota. The class has 20 computer available.
Nuie Ayut, 39, a housewife from Kg Tanjung Bungar Baru said she was not able to join the programme as the deadline for registration had pass.Nuie who believes that one can learn anything if one put their mind into it, wishes that the programme will be able to take in more participants as many are willing to learn.The minister also officially launched the school's herbal garden, an example of other schools' best practices that the school decided to adopt. The herbal garden has 81 types of herbs which include daun salam, rancah-rancah and gadung. To commemorate the launching, the minister planted a seedling of 'pokok ajaib'. Among the many uses of the herb is its ability to cure malaria and cough.Included in the minister's delegation was the deputy minister Dato Seri Setia Hj Yusoff Hj Ismail as well as senior officials of the ministry.
